If.  lO  -0^  , 


PRINCETON,  N.  J.  '*^ 


Presented   by'^^oK .  <~^  O  n  rA  A^  O  J  \j  \ Vr  ,"33  -"It) . 


Division 


Sectic 


A3 


w^ 


^r^LuyVcIv^^ 


^^i^AucC^'/^i 


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THE 


COMMEMORATIVE    SERVICES 


THE  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  NEWTON, 

MASSACHUSETTS, 


ON    THE    OCCASION    OF    THE 


Ebjo  l^untireti  antr  Ebjentg^jFiftft  ^nntbersarg 
of  its  jFountiation, 


Sunday  and  Monday,  Oct.  6  and  7,  1889. 


o>Ko 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY. 


Press  of  Rockwell  and  Churchill,  Boston. 
1890. 


Stenographically    reported 

by 

M.    C.    AYRES. 


CONTENTS. 


FAOE 

INTRODUCTION 7-1 1 

HISTORICAL    DISCOURSE,    BY    REV.    DR.   DANIEL   L. 

FURBER 15-127 

The  Nine  Pastors 15 

Theological  Position  of  the  Church  ....  18 

Influence  of  Calvinism  on  Human  Freedom     .         .  23 

Formation  of  the  Church       ......  25 

Mr.  Eliot's  Ministry 27 

Mr.   Hobart's  Ministry    .......  30 

Mr.  Cotton's  Ministry 32 

Mr.  Meriam's  Ministry 35 

Mrs.  Anna  Hammond  Pope       ......  37 

Dr.   Homer's  Ministry 40 

Half-way  Covenant         .......  40 

Early  English  Versions  of  the  Bible         ...  50 

Dr.  Codman's  Sermon  at  Dr.   Homer's  Funeral         .  56 

Mr.  Bates'  Ministry 58 

Deacon  Woodward 59 

Deacon  Jackson 62 

Mr.  Bushnell's  Ministry 67 

Dr.  Furber's  Ministry 67 

Deacon  Cook 68 

Deacon  Paul 68 

Mr.  Holmes'  Ministry 69 

Additions  to  the  Church       ......  70 

Men  whom  the    Church    has    sent  into  the  Min- 
istry    7i>  94 

Women  who  have  been  Wives  of  Ministers       .         .  88,  94 

The  Early  Ministers  nobly  Connected      ...  94 

The  Patriotism  of  the  Church 95 

In  the  Early  Wars 96 

In  the  Revolution     .......  96 

In  the  Rebellion        .......  98 

Recapitulation  ..........  104 

Eminent  Men 105 

Usefulness  of  a  Local  Church 108 

Reflections 1 10-126 

1.  Connection  with  Missions 11 1 

2.  Care  for  the  Young 112 


CONTENTS. 


Historical  Discourse,  continued. 

3.  Efficiency  of  Earnest  Laymen 

4.  The  Pulpit  on  Future  Retribution 

5.  Trust  in  Christ  as  a  Saviour  removes 

of  Death    .... 

Dying  Words  of  Mr.  Eliot    . 

Conclusion  ..... 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL   ANNIVERSARY 
Historical  Catechism 
Address  by  Rev.  William  H.   Cobb 
Address  by  Rev.  Dr.  George  M.  Boynton 
Historical  Paper  by  Mrs.  E.  G.  A.  Lane 


Fear 


114 
120 

123 
123 
126 


131-147 

•  131 

•  133 
■  135 
.       138 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE,     BY     REV.     THEODORE  J. 

HOLMES 151-181 

Early  Meeting-houses     .......       151 

Religious  Services    ........       162 

Christian  Work 171 


COMMEMORATIVE    SERVICES 


185-235 


Monday  Afternoon. 
Address  by  Judge  Robert  R.  Bishop    ....       185 
Address  by  Rev.  Theodore  J.   Holmes  .         .         .       188 

Address  by  Rev.  Lemuel  C.  Barnes  ....  191 
Address  by  Rev.  Erastus  Blakeslee  ....  194 
Address  by  Rev.  Calvin  Cutler  . 
Address  by  Ex-Governor  Claflin 

Monday  Evening. 

Address   by  Rev.  Dr.  D.  L.  Furber     ....       209 

Address   by  W.  S.  Slocum,  Esq^ 212 

•       215 
216 

221 
224 


Remarks  by  Rev.  Dr.   S.  F.   Smith 
Address   by  Rev.  Henry  J.   Patrick 
Address   by  Rev.  Dr.  Wolcott  Calkins 
Address   by  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander   McKenzie 


APPENDIX 239-261 

Mrs.  Maria  B.  Furber 239 

Letters        ..........  243 

Description  of  Memorials      ......  247 

Description  of  Decorations  ......  253 

Members  of  Quartet  and  Chorus  Choirs  .        .         .  256 

List  of  Ministers  and  Meeting-houses      .        .        .  257 

Order  of  Exercises 258 

INDEX   OF  NAMES 263 


INTRODUCTION. 


''  I  ^HE  First  Church  in  Newton  would  have  celebrated 
its  Two  Hundredth  Anniversary  in  1864  had  not 
the  distractions  of  the  Civil  War  prevented. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  church,  Jan.  25,  1889,  it  was  voted 
to  observe  the  Two  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  Anniver- 
sary, and  to  invite  the  cooperation  of  the  parish  in 
so  doing.  A  committee  of  three,  consisting  of  Rev. 
Theodore  J.  Holmes,  pastor  of  the  church,  Samuel 
Ward,  and  Arthur  C.  Walworth,  were  appointed  to  act 
jointly  with  a  like  number  to  be  chosen  by  the  parish 
for  the  purpose  of  making  the  necessary  arrangements. 
The  parish,  at  a  meeting  held  April  25,  1889,  concurred, 
and  appointed  Robert  R.  Bishop,  Charles  S.  Davis,  and 
William  E.  Webster  as  the  members  of  the  committee 
on  its  part.  This  general  committee  were  authorized  to 
make  all  plans  for  the  celebration.  The  church  was 
organized  in  July,  but  it  was  thought  best  to  defer  the 
observance  until  the  autumn. 

The  following  invitation  was  sent  to  absent  members  of 
the  congregation,  to  others  identified  with  it  in  past  years, 
and  to  a  few  special  guests :  — 


INTRODUCTION. 


me  df:zm    m^c/  ui^enm    c/ai^^    f/  (ye/.,   /^S^. 

C^eii^tm  ^en^le,   C^aJ^f . 

<^e/ifem/ei,   /cPcf^. 


The  following  were  the  committees :  — 
GENERAL    COMMITTEE:    * 

Rev.  Theo.  J.  Holmes,     Robert  R.  Bishop, 
Samuel  Ward,  Charles  S.  Davis, 

Arthur  C.  Walw^orth,  William  E.  Webster. 


On  Invitatiojts  : 

Robert  R.  Bishop,  Horace  Cousens, 

John  Ward,  Luther  Paul, 

Samuel  M.  Jackson,  Daniel  Stone. 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

On  Hospitality  : 

Robert  Hawthorne,     Mrs.  C.  M.  Ransom, 
Langdon  S.  Ward,        Miss  Harriet  S.  Cousens, 
Mrs.  Charles  S.  Davis. 

On  Decorations  : 

E.  W.  NoYES,  Louis  H.  Boynton, 

A.  C.  Walworth,     Mrs.  S.  A.  Sylvester, 
Miss  Carolyn  S.  Capron. 

On  Memorials  : 

Herbert  I.  Ordway,        Miss  Maria  F.  Wood, 
Ernest  Porter,  Miss  Maria  L.  Brackett, 

Mrs.  Edwin  R.  Rand,       Miss  Maria  S.  Daniels. 

On   Collation  : 

Mrs.  M.  O.  Rice,  Mrs.  F.  H.  Scudder, 

Mrs.  Robert  Hawthorne,      Mrs.  C.  B.  Lancaster, 
Mrs.  E.  L.  Collins, 

Assisted  by 

Charles  S.  Davis,        W.  O.  Knapp, 
O.  F.  Smith. 

On  Printing  : 

A.  L.  Harwood,         James  M.  E.  Drake, 

William  Tomlinson. 

On  Music  : 

W.  E.  Webster,  M.  O.  Rice, 

L  F.  Kingsbury,  Samuel  Ward, 

Daniel  T.  Kidder,  Jr. 


lO  INTRODUCTION. 


On  Finance 


S.  F.  WiLKiNS,  S.  V.  A.  Hunter, 

George  E.  Crafts. 

On  the  days  set  apart  for  the  celebration,  the  church 
was  appropriately  decorated,  and  many  interesting  me- 
morials were  exhibited  in  the  chapel.  An  account  of 
the  decorations  and  memorials  will  be  found  in  the 
Appendix. 

The  weather  on  Sunday  was  fair,  and  the  attendance 
at  the  three  services  was  very  large,  especially  in  the 
morning  and  evening ;  many  former  members  being  pres- 
ent, and  many  from  other  congregations.  At  night,  the 
other  churches  of  the  village  manifested  their  neighborly 
fellowship  by  omitting  their  usual  meetings  and  joining 
with  us. 

At  all  the  services  the  congregational  singing  was 
general  and  hearty.  Special  music  of  a  high  order,  and 
admirably  rendered,  was  furnished  by  the  Quartet  Choir, 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  George  H.  Brown,  organist, 
who  has  held  this  position  for  twenty-five  years. 

Valuable  assistance  was  also  given  by  a  large  chorus 
choir,  gathered  from  our  own  and  other  congregations, 
under  the  direction  of  Col.  Isaac  F.  Kingsbury.  The  ren- 
dering of  "  Denmark,"  "  Jerusalem,  My  Glorious  Home," 
"  Lenox,"  "  Northfield,"  and  other  selections  from  the 
Ancient  Harmony,  was  a  very  impressive  feature  of  the 
occasion.^ 

At  the  exercises  on  Monday,  Judge  Robert  R.  Bishop 
presided,  at  the  request  of  the  General  Committee.  The 
Order  of  Exercises  was  completely  carried  out,  except 
that,  to  the  regret  of  all.  Rev.  N.  G.  Clark,  D.D.,  was  pre- 
vented by  sickness  from  being  present. 

'  The  names  of  the  members  of  these  choirs  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 


INTRODUCTION.  I  I 

At  5.30  P.M.  a  collation  was  served  at  Associates'  Hall, 
conveyances  being  provided  for  all  who  wished  to  ride 
from  the  church.  The  number  of  guests  at  the  collation 
was  smaller  than  had  been  expected,  many  having  been 
kept  away  by  the  inclement  day,  but  about  three  hundred 
were  seated  at  the  bountiful  tables.  Grace  was  sung 
before  and  after  the  meal,  the  words  being  "  lined  off" 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Furber.^ 

In  the  evening  the  weather  had  cleared,  and  there  was 
present  another  great  congregation.  The  inspiring  ad- 
dresses, the  tender  memories  of  the  past,  the  earnest 
prayers,  the  excellent  music,  and  the  warm  interest  in 
the  services,  made  the  meeting  a  fit  climax  to  the  cele- 
bration. 

At  the  close,  it  was  felt  by  all  that  the  anniversary  had 
abundantly  justified  all  the  outlay  of  time  and  work  that 
had  been  expended  upon  it.  The  various  plans  had  been 
successfully  carried  out,  the  utmost  harmony  had  pre- 
vailed, and  in  the  history  of  our  ancient  church  this  cele- 
bration will  ever  be  regarded  as  a  memorable  epoch. 

*  The  stanzas  which  were  sung  were  the  following,  —  one  before  the  repast 
and  the  other  after :  — 

"  Be  present  at  our  table,  Lord, 
Be  here  and  everywhere  adored; 
These  creatures  bless,  and  g^rant  that  we 
May  feast  in  Paradise  with  thee. 

•'  We  thank  thee,  Lord,  for  this  our  food, 
But  more  because  of  Jesus'  blood ; 
Let  manna  to  our  souls  be  given, 
The  bread  of  life  sent  down  from  heaven." 

When  Dr.  Furber  was  in  London,  in  1869,  he  saw,  at  John  Wesley's  house, 
a  blue  earthen  tea-urn  formerly  used  by  Wesley  in  entertaining  the  ministers 
who  visited  him.  These  stanzas  were  inscribed  upon  the  urn,  one  upon 
each  side   of  it. 


HISTORICAL    DISCOURSE, 

PREACHED    ON   SUNDAY  MORNING,    OCTOBER    6,    ih 


The  Reverend  Daniel  L.  Furber,   D.D., 

Pastor  E7)ieritus. 


HISTORICAL    DISCOURSE. 


Hebrews  xiii.  7 — "Remember  them  that  had  the  rule  over  you,  which 
spake  unto  you  the  word  of  God :  and  considering  the  issue  of  their  life, 
imitate  their  faith." 

Proverbs  xvii.  6  —  "  The  glory  of  children  are  their  fathers." 

I  AM  to  speak  upon  several  topics  of  special 
interest  in  the  history  of  our  church,  includ- 
ing the  doctrines  that  have  been  held  and  preached 
in  it,  the  men  who  have  preached  them,  and  some 
of  the  fruits  of  their  labors. 

In  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  the  church 
has  had  nine  ministers. 

John  Eliot,  junior,  son  of  the  apostle  Eliot,  was 
born  in  Roxbury;  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1656;  was  ordained  here,  July  20,  O.  S.,  1664;  and 
died  here,  Oct.  11,  1668,  aged  32. 

Nehemiah  Hobart,  son  of  Rev.  Peter  Hobart, 
was  born  in  Hingham;  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  1667,  and  after  preaching  two  and  a  half 
years  in  this  place  was  ordained  here,  Dec.  23, 
1674;    and  died  here,  Aug.  25,    1712,  aged  67,. 

John  Cotton,  great-grandson  of  the  famous  John 
Cotton,  of  Boston,  and  son  of  Rev.  Roland  Cotton, 


l6  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

was  born  in  Sandwich;  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  1 710;  was  ordained  here,  Nov.  3,  17 14;  and 
died  here,  May  17,  1757,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of 
his  age. 

Jonas  Meriam  was  born  in  Lexington;  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1753;  was  ordained  here, 
March  22,  1758;  and  died  here,  Aug.  13,  1780, 
aged  50. 

Jonathan  Homer,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Boston; 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1777;  was  or- 
dained here,  Feb.  13,  1782;  had  his  pastoral  rela- 
tion dissolved,  April  17,  1839,  ^fter  a  ministry  of 
fifty-seven  years ;  and  died,  Aug.  11,  1843,  aged  84. 

James  Bates  was  born  in  Randolph,  Vt. ;  gradu- 
ated at  Dartmouth  College  in  1822,  and  at  Andover 
Theological  Seminary  in  1826;  was  ordained  here, 
as  colleague  with  Dr.  Homer,  Nov.  14,  1827,  and 
had  his  pastoral  relation  dissolved  the  same  day 
that  Dr.  Homer's  was  dissolved.  He  was  settled 
afterward  in  Granby  and  in  Central  Village  (Plain- 
field),  Conn.  He  died  in  Granby,  Dec.  9,  1865, 
aged  66. 

William  Bushnell  was  born  in  Saybrook  (now 
Westbrook),  Conn.;  graduated  at  Yale  College 
in  1828,  at  Yale  Seminary  in  1832;  was  installed 
pastor  of  this  church.  May  24,  1842,  and  resigned, 
Dec.  13,  1846.  His  previous  settlements  were  in 
North  Killingly,  Conn.,  and  Beverly,  Mass.  He 
died  in  East  Boston,  April  28,  1879,  aged  78. 

The  writer  of  this  discourse   was  born  in  Sand- 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  I7 

wich,  N.H.;  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in 
1843,  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary  in  1846; 
was  ordained  here,  Dec.  i,  1847;  resigned,  Dec.  3, 
1882,  and  became  pastor  emeritus. 

Theodore  J.  Holmes  was  born  in  Utica,  N.Y.; 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1853,  and  at  Union 
Theological  Seminary  in  1859.  He  was  ordained 
in  Randolph,  Vt.,  and  engaged  in  Home  Mission- 
ary work  in  that  State  for  two  years.  His  pastor- 
ates have  been  in  East  Hartford,  Conn.,  Brooklyn, 
N.Y.,  and  Baltimore,  Md.  In  1864-5  he  was 
chaplain  of  the  First  Connecticut  Cavalry.  He 
was  installed  as  pastor  of  this  church,  Oct.  24,  1883, 
and  is  the  present  pastor. 

It  will  be  seen  that  seven  of  the  nine  ministers 
were  ordained  here,  and  that  the  work  of  six  of 
them  was  both  begun  and  finished  here. 

While  we  are  tracing  the  history  of  the  church 
and  its  ministers,  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  the  his- 
tory of  the  ministers  illustrates  the  character  of  the 
people.  The  people  sustained  the  ministers  preach- 
ing as  they  did.  They  showed  their  good  sense, 
their  correct  views,  and  their  excellent  spirit  in 
their  treatment  of  the  ministers.  Trained  as  they 
were  in  the  vicinity  of  Harvard  College,  they  were 
remarkably  intelligent.  They  came  into  much 
closer  connection  with  the  college  than  we  do,  for 
they  lived  in  the  same  town  and  listened  every 
Lord's  day  to  the  same  preaching  to  which  the 
professors    and    students    listened,  and     thus    they 


l8  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

came  every  week  under  highly  educating  influ- 
ences. No  doubt  we  arc  in  some  measure  indebted 
to  this  fact  for  the  intelligence  which  now  charac- 
terizes our  people;  for  the  character  which  is 
stamped  upon  a  town  or  church  in  the  beginning 
of  its  histor}'  is  apt  to  go  down  to  succeeding 
generations. 

You  will  notice,  in  the  progress  of  the  discourse, 
the  evidences  of  this  intelligence,  especially  in 
reference  to  religious  truth.  The  ministers  have 
always,  from  the  very  beginning,  preached  sound 
doctrine.  The  people  received  it,  and  loved  it, 
and  stood  firmly  b}^  it.  In  1770,  and  again  in  1783, 
they  said,  as  a  church,  in  the  most  solemn  manner, 
speaking  of  the  old  New  England  faith,  "  We  will 
stand  by,  maintain,  and  if  need  be  contend  for  this 
faith,  and  if  any  among  us  should  go  about  to 
undermine  it,  we  will  bear  a  due  testimony  against 
them."  Accordingly,  in  the  Unitarian  controversy, 
when  ninety-six  of  the  three  hundred  and  sixty-one 
Cono:reo:ational  churches  of  Massachusetts  became 
Unitarian,  and  thirty  more  were  so  far  Unitarian 
that  those  who  held  to  a  sound  faith  were  obliged 
to  withdraw,  this  church  kept  its  pledge  and  ad- 
hered to  the  doctrines  of  the  Puritan  Fathers. 
All  the  Boston  churches  but  one  were  lost; 
the  churches  in  Roxbur}^,  Dorchester,  Cam- 
bridge, Watertown,  Waltham,  Dedham,  Brookline, 
Brighton;  but  the  church  in  Newton  and  its  first- 
born child  in  the  West  Parish  stood  firm. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  I9 

The  doctrinal  belief  of  our  fathers  was  thoroughly 
Calvinistic.  They  assented  to  the  Westminster 
Assembly's  Confession  of  Faith  in  1648,  and  adopted 
the  Savoy  Confession,  which  was  about  the  same 
thing  in  matters  of  doctrine,  in  1680.  John  Cotton, 
of  Boston,  said  that,  after  studying  twelve  hours  a 
day,  he  wanted  to  sweeten  his  mouth  with  a  morsel 
from  John  Calvin  before  he  went  to  sleep. 

When  this  church  adopted  the  Savoy  Confession, 
they  said,  "  We  do  heartily  close  in  with  '\tfor  the 
substance  of  it  'y''"'  by  which  they  meant  to  reserve  to 
themselves  a  degree  of  liberty  in  the  interpretation 
of  it.  We  should  probably  use  more  liberty  than 
the}'  did;  that  is,  we  should  reject  altogether  the 
doctrine  of  a  limited  atonement,  for  we  believe  that 
Christ  died  for  all  men.  We  do  not  believe  the 
doctrine  of  the  imputation  of  the  guilt  of  the  sin  of 
our  tirst  parents  to  all  their  posterity,  and  it  is  not 
at  all  probable  that  Mr.  Hobart  or  Mr.  Cotton,  or 
any  of  the  divines  of  their  day,  meant,  when  speak- 
ing of  this  doctrine,  that  we  are  guilty  of  Adam's 
sin, —  a  thing  impossible, —  but  onl}'  that  we  endure 
the  consequences  of  it  in  our  mortality,  and  in  the 
depraved  nature  which  we  inherit  from  him.  Calvin 
himself  says,  "  It  is  not  to  be  understood  as  if  we, 
though  innocent,  were  loaded  with  the  guilt  of 
Adam's  sin ;  but  because  we  are  all  subject  to  a  curse 
in  consequence  of  his  transgression,  he  is  therefore 
said  to  have  involved  us  in  guilt."  Where  the  creed 
says,  "  We  have  wholly  lost  all  ability  of  will  to 


20  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

any  spiritual  good,"  we  should  prefer  to  say  that 
we  have  lost  all  inclination  to  and  love  of  spiritual 
good,  though  we  could  obey  the  gospel  if  we 
would. 

Such  things  as  these  in  the  creed  Dr.  Woods,  of 
Andover,  used  to  call  the  fag-ends  of  Calvinism, 
and  we  ought  not  to  judge  of  a  whole  system  by 
its  fag-ends.  So  the  doctrine  that  one  ought  to  be 
willing  to  be  damned,  if  it  should  be  for  the  glory 
of  God,  is  a  fag-end  of  Hopkinsianism.^  The  creed 
of  Andover  Seminary  was  formed  to  please  both 
Calvinists  and  Hopkinsians.  Those  points  in  which 
both  parties  could  agree  were  retained  in  it,  and  the 
fag-ends  of  both  creeds  were  lopped  off,  so  that  that 
creed  may  be  said  to  represent  what  we  have  in 
mind  when  we  sa}'  that  we  accept  the  Savo}'  Con- 
fession, ybr //^^  substance  of  it. 

The  doctrine  of  "  inability  to  all  spiritual  good  " 
is  found  frequently  in  the  writings  of  Mr.  Hobart 
and  of  Mr.  Cotton.  The  doctrine  of  election  is 
found  occasionall}^,  though  not  often. 

*The  doctrine  that  one  ought  to  be  willing  to  be  damned  for  the  glory  of 
God  is  very  well  answered  by  Mr.  Hobart.  He  says :  "  Such  willingness  in- 
cludes in  it  full  and  perfect  enmity  against  God  and  Christ,  which  no  man 
should  be  willing  to.  It  also  includes  a  willingness  and  contentment  that 
God  and  Christ  should  not  have  his  power  and  grace  glorified  in  their  salvation. 
The  expression  of  Moses  desiring  to  be  blotted  out  of  God's  book,  and  of 
Paul  wishing  himself  accursed  from  Christ,  do  not  at  all  favor  such  an  opinion, 
inasmuch  as  these  words  were  uttered  by  them  from  a  loathness  and  unwilling- 
ness that  others  should  be  lost  and  perish.  Now,  if  a  man  ought  not  to  be 
willing  that  others  should  be  damned,  neither  then  should  he  will  his  own 
eternal  ruin,  for  there  is  a  regular  self-love,  which  men  owe  first  to  themselves, 
and  this  is  made  the  rule  of  their  love  to  others."  "  Absence  of  the  Com- 
forter," p.  259. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  21 

Mr.  Hobart  thus  answers  an  objection  founded 
upon  the  doctrine,  saying  to  the  objector,  "  Per- 
haps you  will  say,  '  I  know  not  that  Christ  inter- 
cedes for  me,  for  he  said,  "  I  pray  not  for  the  world, 
but  for  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me.'"  Foolish 
and  vain  man  thus  to  side  with  Satan  against  God's 
glory  and  your  own  good!  Men  do  not  argue  thus 
in  temporal  affairs.  Suppose  there  is  an  office  of 
dignity  and  profit  left  vacant.  A  hundred  men,  it 
may  be,  will  sue  for  it,  when  they  certainly  know 
that  ninety-nine  will  fail  to  get  it.  Only  one  can 
have  it;  every  one  hopes  he  shall  be  that  one.  If 
you  will  pray  to  God  for  the  gift  of  his  spirit,  you 
know  not  but  that  every  one  of  you  will  obtain  it, 
and  yet  you  make  such  frivolous  objections.  God 
commands  you  to  pray  and  wait,  and  this  is  the 
way  to  know  that  Christ  intercedes  for  you;  but 
you  stand  to  capitulate  that  God  shall  first  assure 
you  that  you  are  one  of  those  who  are  given  to 
Christ  out  of  the  world."  ^ 

Mr.  Hobart  here  virtually  admits  to  the  objector 
that  it  may  be  true  that  Christ  does  not  pray  for 
him,  but  with  great  energy  and  force  he  reminds 
him  that  if  he  were  as  earnest  in  seeking  salvation 
as  he  would  be  in  seeking  a  desirable  office,  he 
would  then  know  that  Christ  did  intercede  for  him, 
and  his  objection  would  be  taken  out  of  the  way. 

This  doctrine  we  still  hold,  because  we  think  we 
find  it  not  only  in  the  Bible,  but  in  Nature  and  in 

'  "  Absence  of  the  Comforter,"  p.  312. 


22  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Providence.  Darwin's  theory  of  "  natural  selec- 
tion "  involves  the  same  principle.  The  circum- 
stances of  every  man's  birth,  his  surroundings,  his 
parentage,  his  ancestry,  all  beyond  his  control,  sub- 
ject him  to  influences  and  inclinations  which  often 
determine  his  character  and  career  for  time  and 
for  eternity.  Accordingly,  James  Anthony  Froude 
says,  "  If  Arminianism  most  commends  itself  to  our 
feelings,  Calvinism  is  nearer  to  the  facts,  however 
harsh  and  forbidding  those  facts  may  seem."  ^ 

"  One  thing  is  certain,"  said  the  late  Henry  B. 
Smith,  "  infidel  science  will  rout  everything  ex- 
cept thorough-going  Christian  orthodoxy.  All  the 
flabby  theories  and  the  molluscous  formations  .  .  . 
will  go  by  the  board.  The  fight  will  be  between  a 
stiff  thorough-going  Orthodoxy  and  a  stiff  thorough- 
going Infidelity.  It  will  be,  e.  g.^  Augustine  or 
Comte,  Athanasius  or  Plegel,  Luther  or  Schopen- 
hauer, John  Stuart  Mill  or  John  Calvin.  Arianism 
gets  the  fire  on  both  sides;  so  does  Arminianism; 
so  does  Universalism." 

We  hold  to  the  Confession  of  1680  still,  as  our 
fathers  did,  for  the  substance  of  it,  but  we  do  it 
with  the  warmest  Christian  affection  for  those  who 
differ  from  us.  We  join  hand  and  heart  with  our 
Methodist  brethren.  Professor  Shedd,  who  is  as 
stanch  a  Calvin ist  as  can  be  anywhere  found, 
speaks  somewhere  of  the  "  beloved  Methodist," 
and  then  adds,  "  We  feel  a  deep  and  warm  aftec- 

'  "  Essay  on  Calvinism,"  p.  12. 


HISTORICvVL     DISCOURSE.  23 

tion  towards  that  large  denomination,  which  goes 
everywhere  preaching  the  doctrine  of  man's  guilt 
and  his  forgiveness  through  atoning  blood/'  So 
desirous  are  we  for  union  with  our  Methodist 
brethren,  as  well  as  with  the  other  great  Christian 
bodies,  in  promoting  the  interests  of  Christ's  king- 
dom, that  in  the  declaration  of  faith  made  by  our 
own  council  of  1865  on  Burial  Hill  in  Plymouth, 
the  word  ''■  Calvinism  "  is  not  used.  The  creed  now 
used  by  this  church  has  nothing  in  it  which  a 
Methodist  brother  could  not  subscribe  to  if  he 
wished  to  join  the    church. 

Calvinism,  notwithstanding  all  the  prejudice 
which  there  is  against  it,  is  a  mighty  system.  By 
creating  in  every  man's  mind  a  sense  of  his  own 
worth  as  a  being  called  of  God  into  his  own 
kingdom  and  glory,  and  redeemed  by  the  incarna- 
tion and  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God,  it  has  asserted 
human  rights  and  the  equality  of  all  men  before 
God  as  no  other  system  ever  did.  In  its  encoun- 
ters with  the  Church  of  Rome,  it  compelled  that 
church,  after  long  and  bloody  wars,  to  surrender 
its  claim  to  the  right  to  hang  and  burn  those  who 
differed  from  it.  David  Hume  said  that  Eno;;land 
owed  all  the  liberty  she  had  to  the  Puritans;  and 
George  Bancroft  says  that  the  monarchs  of  Europe, 
with  one  consent  and  with  instinctive  judgment, 
feared  Calvinism  as  republicanism.  John  Fiske 
says  that  the  promulgation  of  the  theology  of 
Calvin  was  one  of  the  longest  steps  that  mankind 


24  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

has  taken  toward  personal  freedom.  We  boast  of 
what  New  Enoland  did  in  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion.  It  furnished  more  than  half  the  troops  that 
were  raised  during  the  war.  The  descendants  of 
the  Puritans  did  that.  The  Congregationalists  at 
that  time  were  seven  times  as  numerous  as  all 
other  denominations  put  together,  and  they  were 
descendants  of  the  Puritans,  and  the  Puritans  were 
Calvinists.  Let  this  show  what  kind  of  moral  and 
religious  forces  achieved  our  independence.  Every- 
where the  influence  of  this  system  of  belief  has 
been  to  establish  human  freedom,  to  educate  the 
masses,  to  elevate  society,  and  to  free  the  enslaved. 
It  has  scattered  the  proud  in  the  imagination  of 
their  heart;  it  has  put  down  princes  from  their 
thrones;  it  has  exalted  them  of  low  degree. 

"  Take  the  Calvinists  of  New  England,"  said 
Henry  Ward  Beecher;  "persons  rail  at  them,  but 
they  were  men  that  believed  in  their  doctrines. 
They  put  God  first,  the  Commonwealth  next,  and 
the  citizen  next,  and  they  lived  accordingly.  And 
where  do  you  find  prosperity  that  averages  as  it 
does  in  New  England,  in  Scotland,  and  in  Switz- 
erland ?  Men  may  rail  as  much  as  the}^  please,  but 
these  are  the  facts."  ^ 

'  In  a  similar  strain  of  remark  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  says:  "Cal- 
vinism is  much  berated  in  our  days,  but  let  us  look  at  the  political,  social, 
and  materialistic  progress  of  Calvinistic  countries,  and  ask  if  the  world  is  far 
enough  along  to  dispense  with  it.  Look  at  Spain  and  look  at  New  England; 
compare  the  Spanish  peasantry  with  the  yeomen  of  New  England;  the  one 
set  made  l^y  reasoning,  active-minded  Calvinism,  the  other  by  pictures,  statues, 
incense,  architecture,  and  all  the  sentimental  paraphernalia  of  ritualism." 
"  Oldtown  Folks,"  p.  448. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  25 

Well  might  our  national  council  on  Burial  Hill 
say  that  the  experience  of  nearly  two  centuries  and 
a  half  had  only  deepened  their  confidence  in  the 
faith  and  polity  of  the  fathers,  and  then,  after 
naming  the  doctrines  on  which  they  could  extend 
the  hand  of  fellowship  to  all  believers,  —  such  as 
the  Bible  the  Word  of  God,  and  no  rule  of  faith 
but  that;  the  doctrines  of  the  Trinity,  the  deity  of 
Christ,  the  common  sinfulness  and  ruin  of  our  race, 
the  expiatory  death  of  Christ  as  our  only  ground  of 
hope,  and  the  other  doctrines  which  belong  to  all 
our  evangelical  creeds,  —  declare  their  readiness  to 
co-operate  with  all  who  hold  these  truths  in  the 
several  households  of  the  body  of  Christ,  and  with 
them  carry  the  gospel  into  ever}^  part  of  this  land, 
and  with  them  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature. 

Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  ago  Charles 
the  Second  was  on  the  throne  of  England,  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  was  a  young  man,  John  Milton,  in  his  blind- 
ness, was  writing  "Paradise  Lost,"  John  Bunyan,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-six,  was  writing  "  Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress "  in  Bedford  Jail,  while  "  Richard  Baxter  was 
speaking  of  weighty  soul  concerns  with  his  very 
spirit  drenched  therein." 

Certain  forms  of  expression  which  were  common 
two  centuries  ago  would  sound  strange  if  we  should 
hear  them  now.  Mr.  Cotton,  in  one  of  his  ser- 
mons, says,  "  We  should  show  thankful  resentment 
to  God  for  his  favors  to  us."     In  another  discourse 


26  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

he  sa3's,  "■  Let  us  resent  the  hand  of  God  in  the 
death  of  so  many  of  his  useful  servants."  Near 
the  close  of  a  sermon  he  says,  "  I  will  now  shut  up 
all  with  an  exhortation."  Mr.  Hobart  says  that 
"  Christians  should  chew  over  their  former  consola- 
tions;" that  is,  they  should  call  them  to  mind  and 
ruminate  upon  them,  as  an  ox  chews  his  cud,  and 
thus  renew  their  enjoyment  of  them.  The  word 
"  ingenuity  "  is  used  for  "  ingenuousness."  "  Let 
us  with  candor  and  ingenuity  confess  our  faults." 

At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  this  church,  what 
is  now  Newton  was  a  part  of  Cambridge,  and  was 
called  Cambridge  Village.  The  people  living  here 
went  to  Cambridge  to  meeting  until  1656,  when 
the}^  began  to  hold  meetings  here,  probably  in  the 
house  of  Edward  Jackson,  near  the  line  between 
Newton  and  Brighton.  They  then  asked  to  be 
released  from  paying  rates  at  Cambridge;  but  the 
Cambridge  church  would  not  release  them,  because 
the}'  said  that  if  they  did  it  would  be  "  overburden- 
some  "  to  them  to  support  their  minister.  The 
Cambridge  church  was  large  and  wealthy;  there 
were  only  three  towns  in  Massachusetts  that  had 
more  wealth  than  Cambridge,  and  yet  they  could 
not  spare  the  thirty  families  living  here,  and  these 
families  for  five  3^ears  supported  their  own  meeting 
and  helped  the  Cambridge  church  besides.  You 
may  ask  why  they  did  not  go  to  Watertown  to  meet- 
ing, which  was  so  much  nearer.  That  would  be 
going  out  of  town.     They  had  to  pay  for  the  support 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  27 

of  the  minister  in  their  own  town,  which  was  Cam- 
bridge, and  it  was  natural  that  they  should  go  to 
his  meeting.  They,  no  doubt,  went  through  Water- 
town.  The  cheap  bridge  which  was  built  there  in 
1647  could  probably  accommodate  travel  by  horse- 
back, which  was  the  common  mode  of  travel  at 
that  time.  If  the  tide  was  out,  the  river  could  be 
forded.  The  objection  to  supposing  that  they  went 
through  Brighton  and  North  Brighton  is  that  the 
Cambridge  ferry  was  "  altogether  useless  in  winter, 
very  inconvenient  for  horses,  and  incommodable 
for  carts."  ^ 

This  church  was  formed  in  1664,  Jul)^  20,  O.S., 
during  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Jonathan  Mitchell,  the 
second  pastor  of  the  Shepard  Church  in  Cam- 
bridge, and  was  properly  a  colony  from  that 
church,  though  a  considerable  number  were  from 
other  neiofhborino:  churches.  The  cons'reofation 
was  composed  at  that  time  of  about  thirty  families, 
and  the  church  of  about  eighty  members,  —  forty 
male  and  forty  female. 

Mr.  Eliot  was  ordained  the  same  da}^  that  the 
church  was  formed ;  his  father,  the  apostle  Eliot, 
and  Rev.  Richard  Mather,  of  Dorchester,  being 
present  and  assisting.  He  had  preached  here 
before  his  ordination,  but  how  long  we  do  not 
know.  He  began  to  preach  in  1658,  but  he  was 
much  engaged  in  missionary  work  among  the 
Indians   of   Stoughton,   Natick,  and   other    places, 

'  Paige's  "  History  of  Camlwidge." 


28  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

and  he  assisted  his  father  in  translating  the  Bible 
into  the  Indian  tongue.  These  labors  may  explain 
the  delay  of  his  ordination.  It  was  a  great  blessing 
to  this  church  to  have  such  a  man  as  he  for  its  first 
minister.  Hubbard's  "History  of  New  England" 
says  he  was  second  to  none  as  to  all  literature  and 
other  gifts,  both  of  nature  and  grace,  which  made 
him  so  generally  acceptable  to  all  who  had  the 
least  acquaintance  with  him.  Allen  says  that  he 
was  one  of  the  best  preachers  of  that  age.  He 
excelled  all  his  contemporaries  in  his  knowledge 
of  the  Indian  language,  and  the  Indians,  to  whom 
he  preached  very  often,  said  that  his  preaching  to 
them  was  precious  and  desirable. 

A  great  bereavement  it  must  have  been  to  his 
little  church  to  lose  him  by  death,  after  a  ministry 
of  a  little  more  than  four  years  from  his  ordination. 
He  went  to  Cambridge  to  preach  a  Fast-day 
sermon,  took  cold,  and  had  a  hemorrhage  from 
his  lungs,  which  caused  his  death.  His  will, 
dated  about  two  months  before  he  died,  contains 
the  following:  "  I  desire  to  commit  my  precious 
soul  to  God,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  three 
glorious  persons,  but  one  only  infinite,  eternal 
Being,  in  whom  I  have  believed,  and  whom  I 
have,  through  his  grace,  chosen  to  be  my  only 
and  everlasting  portion;  relying  and  trusting  only 
in  the  merits  and  satisfaction  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  and  yet  very  man, 
who  was  made  sin  and  death  for  me  that  I  might 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  29 

be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him;  and 
who  was  dead,  but  is  now  alive,  sitting  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  whom  I  trust  to  see  with  these  e3'es, 
and  to  be  ever  with  him  through  eternity." 

This  extract  from  his  will  is  all  we  have  from 
his  pen.  There  are  no  sermons  of  his  in  existence, 
but  there  is  a  report  of  precious  utterances  made 
upon  his  dying  bed,  which  I  will  read  before  I 
close.^ 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Eliot  dissensions  arose, 
and  the  men  who  had  shown  so  noble  a  spirit  in 
building  a  meeting-house  and  settling  a  minister 
when  they  were  few  in  number,  and  had  the 
powerful  influence  of  the  Cambridge  church 
against  them,  were  at  strife  amongst  themselves. 
They  lived  four  years  without  a  minister.  Coun- 
cils were  called  to  settle  the  difficult}^  and  the 
County  Court  admonished  them.  The  ministers 
who  supplied  the  pulpit  had  to  sue  them  for  their 
pay.  The  court  decided  that  they  should  pay  all 
their  ministers,  one  as  well  as  another.    We  should 

'  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  a  particular  account  of  Mr.  Eliot,  which 
Mr.  Daniel  Gookin,  of  Cambridge,  intended  to  write,  was  never  written.  Mr. 
Gookin  planned  a  history  of  New  England,  in  which  he  proposed  to  speak  of 
the  most  eminent  deceased  magistrates  and  ministers,  and  he  mentions  Mr. 
Eliot  as  one  of  the  worthies  who  would  have  a  place  in  his  history.  His 
intimate  knowledge  of  Mr.  Eliot,  and  his  interest  in  him  as  a  son-in-law, 
eminently  qualified  him  to  prepare  such  a  history. 

Mr.  Eliot's  son  John,  grandson  of  Mr.  Gookin,  was  educated  for  the  minis- 
try, but  engaged  in  other  pursuits.  He  was  at  one  time  Speaker  of  the  Lower 
House  in  the  Connecticut  Legislature,  and  later,  judge  of  the  Hartford  County 
Court.  His  home  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  was  in  Windsor,  Conn., 
where  he  died  in  17 19,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two. 


30  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

be  glad  if  we  could  know  the  cause  of  this  trouble, 
but  we  cannot.  We  are  entirely  in  the  dark  in 
regard  to    it. 

In  1672  Nchemiah  Hobart  came  and  healed  the 
divisions,  and  restored  harmony.  In  him  again  a 
rich  blessing  came  to  the  little  church,  and  an  un- 
shaken harmony  subsisted  between  him  and  his 
people  for  fort}^  years.  Dr.  Homer  says  that  Mr. 
John  Hall,  who  lived  to  be  ninety-three  years  old, 
and  who  was  eighteen  years  old  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
Hobart's  death,  had  repeatedly  spoken  to  him  of 
Mr.  Hobart's  serious  and  winning  manner  of  ad- 
dress in  the  pulpit,  which  caused  the  people  to 
hang  upon  his  lips. 

Rev.  John  Barnard,  of  Marblehead,  classed  Mr. 
Hobart  with  the  leading  divines  of  New  England. 
Being  asked  to  mention  the  names  of  those  of 
whom  he  had  conceived  the  highest  opinion  for 
sanctity,  usefulness,  and  erudition,  he  gave  the 
names  of  eighteen  men,  and  the  name  of  Nehemiah 
Hobart,  of  Newton,  is  among  them.  Other  names 
are,  Samuel  Willard  and  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  of 
the  Old  South  Church,  in  Boston;  Cotton  Mather, 
of  the  Old  North  Church;  Benjamin  Colman,  of 
Brattle  Street  Church;  Increase  Mather  and  Ben- 
jamin Wadsworth,  both  of  them  presidents  of 
Harvard  College. 

But  if  Mr.  Hobart  is  entitled  to  rank  with  such 
men  as  these,  why  is  he  not  better  known  ?  The 
reason  may  be  that  he  was  an   extremel}'  modest 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  3 1 

man.  Rev.  Eliphalet  Adams,  of  New  London,^ 
who  had  spent  his  boyhood  in  Mr.  Hobart's  famil}-, 
fitting  for  college,  said  that  his  modesty  was  ex- 
cessive, and  that  he  had  a  singular  backwardness  to 
appearing  in  public. 

But  who  is  Mr.  Barnard,  and  what  is  the  value 
of  his  testimon}'?  Dr.  Chauncy  said,  "  He  is  one 
of  our  greatest  men."  He  had  had  abundant  op- 
portunity to  know  the  ministers  of  whom  he  spoke; 
he  was  eighty-five  years  old  when  he  made  out  the 
list  of  names,  and  it  was  President  Stiles,  of  Yale 
College,  who  asked  him  to  make  it.  We  have,  then, 
good  reason  to  conclude  that  our  church  had  for 
its  second  minister  one  of  the  eminent  men  of  his 
time,  and  we  may  see  from  President  Stiles's  ques- 
tion in  what  his  eminence  consisted:  "sanctity, 
usefulness,  and  erudition." 

Mr.  Hobart  died  Aug.  25,  17 12.  Eight  days 
before  his  death  he  preached  morning  and  after- 
noon, and  at  the  close  of  the  day  blessed  the  con- 
gregation in  the  words  prescribed  in  Numbers  vi. 
24-26,  which  made  an  impression  upon  man}-: 
"  They  thought  he  had  taken  leave  of  them,  and 
that  they  should  never  sec  him  again."  He  had 
used  that  form  but  once  before.  He  said  to  Presi- 
dent Leverett,  of  Harvard  College,  who  made  him 
a  visit  a  few  days  before  his  death,  that  he  had 
been  at  forty-nine  Commencements,  never  having 

'  Mr.  Adams  was  the  son  of  Rev.  William  Adams,  of  Dedham,  and  was  left 
an  orphan  at  the  age  of  eight. 


32  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

missed  one  from  the  very  first  time  that  he  had 
"  waited  on  that  solemnity."  The  president  said 
that  he  was  a  great  blessing  and  ornament  to  the 
Corporation  of  Harvard  College.  Judge  Sewall 
states  that  the  governor  (Joseph  Dudley)  was 
present  at  his  funeral  with  four  horses.  "  A  great 
many  people  there;  suppose  there  were  more  than 
forty  graduates  present."  The  president  was  one 
of  the  bearers,  and  the  governor  and  Judge  Sewall 
followed  next  after  the  mourners.^ 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Hobart,  the  church  was 
without  a  minister  two  years.  Several  men 
preached  here  as  candidates,  and  among  them  Rev. 
Edward  Holyoke,  afterward  president  of  Harvard 
College;  but  Mr.  Cotton  was  preferred.  The  votes 
of  the  church  show  a  very  strong  desire  to  make 
him  their  minister.  When  he  came  to  Newton, 
the  whole  town  went  in  procession  to  meet  and 
welcome  this  youth  of  twenty-one.  His  first  ser- 
mon was  from  the  text,  "  How  shall  we  escape  if  we 
neglect  so  great  salvation  ?  "  and  this  text  might  be 
called  the  key-note  of  his  ministry.  Twelve  of  his 
sermons  were  published  and  are  preserved.  Two 
of  them  were  preached  in  Dorchester  on  exchange 
with  Mr.  Danforth.     One  of  them  was  on  the  text, 

'  Judge  Sewall  was  intimate  with  Mr.  Hobart.  He  often  attended  his 
weekly  lecture  at  Newton  and  dined  with  him.  Dinner  was  commonly  followed 
by  prayer  or  the  singing  of  a  psalm,  and  the  judge  several  times  remarks,  "  Mr. 
Hobart  prayed  excellently."  He  states  that  Mr.  Hobart  died  very  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  twenty-fifth,  and  was  buried  on  the  twenty-sixth,  about  an  hour 
before  sunset. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  ^^ 

"Awake  thou  that  sleepest  and  arise  from  the  dead, 
and    Christ  shall  give   thee   light."     A   special  ad- 
dress was  made  to  the  young  in  a  strain  like  this: 
"  Can't  you,  this  evening,  go  alone  and  spend  though 
but  a  few  minutes  in  serious  meditation  and  earnest 
prayer   to    God    to  awake  you   out  of  this  deadly 
sleep  ?     Can't  you  beg  of  God   for  Christ's  sake  to 
have  mercy  on  you?     He   has  expressl}'   declared 
that  if  you   seek  you  shall   find."     The  result  was 
that  many  of  the   young  people   were  aftected  and 
awakened,   and  a  request  was   made   that  the   ser- 
mons  be   published.      His   next   published  sermon 
was  occasioned  by  the  earthquake  on  the   night  of 
Oct.   29,   1727.     It    was    preached    at    the   weekly 
lecture   in   Boston.     When   it   was   published,  Dr. 
Benjamin   Colman,^  of  the  Brattle   Street  Church, 
Boston,  wrote  a  preface  to  it,  in  which  he  said:   "  It 
is  a  pleasure  to  see  with  what  gravity  and  authority 
the   rising   ministers   among   us   bring  the   solemn 
warnings  and  messages  of  Christ  to   his   churches, 
and    with    what    reverence  the}^  are  heard.     And 
doubtless  it  has  been  a  pleasure  to   many,  in  some 
late  lectures  in   Boston,  preached  by  the  author  of 
the  following  discourse,  to  see  the  name  and  spirit 
of  the  famous  John  Cotton  revive  and  shine  in  this, 
his  great  grandson." 

'  Dr.  Colman  is  the  man  to  whom  Hon.  Samuel  Holden,  of  London,  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Bank  of  England,  sent  thirty-nine  sets  of  the  practical  works  of 
Richard  Baxter,  in  four  massive  volumes,  folio,  published  in  1707,  to  be 
distributed  among  the  New  England  churches.  One  of  the  sets  was  sent  to 
this  church,  and  is  still  in  our  possession. 


34  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Mr.  Cotton  had  previousl}'  preached  a  sermon  to 
his  own  people  on  the  earthquake,  the  very  week  it 
occurred.  Sunday  evening,  at  twenty  minutes 
before  eleven  o'clock,  the  earthquake  came.  In 
the  middle  of  the  same  week,  not  waiting  for 
another  Sabbath  to  come,  he  called  his  people 
together  at  the  meeting-house,  for  religious  ser- 
vices and  a  sermon.  In  closing  his  sermon  he 
said :  '^  I  did  not  dare  any  longer  delay  calling 
you  thus  together,  that  we  might  once  more 
unite  in  humbling  ourselves  before  God,  not 
knowing  what  a  day  or  a  night  may  bring  forth. 
How  surprising  and  amazing  was  the  first  sudden 
shock  and  convulsion  that  we  felt,  our  houses  and 
beds  shaking,  and  the  earth  trembling  and  reeling 
under  us,  and  how  man}^  times  has  the  awful  noise 
been  repeated  since,  though  not  to  so  fearful  a 
degree!  You  will  now  surely  be  afraid  of  dela3'ing 
your  repentance  and  reformation  an}^  longer.  My 
dear  neighbors,  with  bowels  of  pity  and  concern  I 
entreat  and  beseech  you  not  to  go  on  any  longer  in 
3'our  sins  unrepented  of.  Remember  how  you  have 
dishonored  God,  and  quenched  the  Spirit,  and 
wounded  your  own  soul.  Abhor  yourselves  before 
God  as  utterly  unworthy  of  an}^  mercy  or  salvation 
from  him,  and  implore  his  pity  through  the  merits  of 
Christ,  and  for  his  sake  alone.  Oh  that  God  would 
hear  and  answer  us  in  this  day  of  distress,  when  we 
are  trembling  before  him,  and  greatly  afraid  of 
further    terrible    manifestations    of    his     holy    dis- 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  35 

pleasure !  Be  thank-ful  for  the  space  you  have  given 
3^ou  to  repent.  You  might  have  been  swallowed 
up  in  the  deep  vaults  and  caverns  of  the  earth  the 
very  first  night;  but  God  has  spared  3'ou  to  this 
hour.  Give  glory,  then,  to  the  Lord,  your  God, 
before  he  cause  darkness,  and  your  feet  stumble 
upon  the  dark  mountains.  Give  not  sleep  to  j^our 
eyes,  nor  slumber  to  your  eyelids,  till  you  have 
sought  earnestly  a  reconciliation  to  God." 

The  successor  of  Mr.  Cotton  was  Rev.  Jonas 
Meriam.  His  only  publication  was  an  ordination 
sermon  preached  in  Portland,  on  the  subject  of  an 
educated  ministry.  After  showing  the  importance 
of  an  education  for  a  minister,  he  spoke  of  the  kind 
of  knowledge  he  should  have.  In  general,  said  he, 
he  should  know  God's  word.  He  must  know  the 
great  God  and  Jesus  Christ  his  Son.  He  must 
know  Jesus  Christ  as  a  Priest  sent  b}'  God  to  atone 
for  the  sins  of  men,  and  give  satisfaction  to  God  for 
them  by  his  death.  He  should  say  with  the 
Apostle,  "  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excel- 
lency of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord." 
He  must  understand  the  lost  condition  of  mankind, 
and  the  way  of  recovery  by  faith  in  the  only  Saviour. 
He  must  have  an  experimental  knowledge  of  these 
things,  and  his  experience  must  be  evinced  by  his 
holy  life  and  conversation.  A  minister  should  know 
something  of  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences;  es- 
pecially should  he  know  the  languages  in  which 
the  Bible  was  written.      In   his  preaching  he  must 


36  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

keep  close  to  the  word  of  God.  If  he  entertains 
his  hearers  with  any  other  doctrines  than  those 
found  in  the  word  of  God,  whatever  learning 
he  ma}'  discover,  he  ma}^  be  said  to  dote  about 
trifles.  If  he  treats  his  subjects  in  a  plain  mannei\ 
this  should  not  be  disgustful  to  persons  of  superior 
knowledge,  since  it  is  his  dut}'  to  seek  the  salvation 
of  all  his  hearers,  the  most  ignorant  as  well  as  the 
most  knowing.  It  discovers  ignorance  of  mankind, 
aiid  of  the  design  of  preaching,  to  wish  a  minister 
to  dwell  always  on  refined  speculations  above  the 
capacit}^  of  the  common  people,  whose  souls  are  as 
precious  as  an}^ 

At  the  close  of  the  sermon,  he  addressed  the 
candidate  for  ordination,  and  said:  "Dear  sir,  the 
greatest  care  that  any  man  can  have  is  the  care  of 
souls.  This  care  will  lie  down  with  you  and  rise 
up  with  3'ou,  and  when  others  indulge  themselves 
in  rest,  will  hide  sleep  from  your  eyes  and  slumber 
from  your  eyelids." 

Mr.  Meriam's  second  wife's  mother,  living  in  his 
famil}^,  owned  a  female  slave,  whom  she  treated 
roughly.  Mr.  Meriam  bought  the  slave  of  his 
mother-in-law  for  one  hundred  dollars,  and  gave 
her  her  liberty.  Here  was  a  practical  abolitionist 
nearly  one  hundred  years  before  slavery  was  abol- 
ished in  our  countr}'.  This  second  wife  of  Mr. 
Meriam  was  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Zabdiel  Boyl- 
ston,  of  Brookline,  the  man  who  introduced  the 
practice  of  inoculation  for  small-pox,  in  the  face  of 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  37 

such  outrageous  opposition  that  he  did  not  dare  go 
out  of  his  house  in  the  evening,  knowing  that  men 
were  on  the  streets,  with  halters  in  their  hands,  ready 
to  hang  hini. 

Mr.  Meriam's  daughter,  Mehitable,  married  John 
Kenrick,  Esq.,  and  her  descendants  are  now  living 
in  this  city. 

The  war  of  the  Revolution  came  in  the  latter 
part  of  Mr.  Meriam's  ministry.  His  health  was  de- 
clining, and  additions  to  the  church  were  very  few. 
Only  one  person  was  received  into  the  church  in 
the  last  six  years  of  his  life,  but  that  person  was  a 
notable  one.  Anna  Hammond,  daughter  of  Col. 
Benjamin  Hammond,  who  lived  in  the  house  now 
occupied  by  Judge  Lowell  at  Chestnut  Hill,  joined 
this  church  in  1777,  and  was  married  the  same  year 
to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Pope,  of  Spencer,  and  there 
lived  to  the  age  of  104  years  and  7  months. 
She  occupied  one  sleeping  room  eighty-two  years. 
^ "  Her  husband's  residence,  being  on  the  main  road 
from  the  western  counties  of  Massachusetts  to  the 
capital,  was  for  a  long  series  of  years  the  hospitable 
resting-place  of  ministers  on  their  way  to  and  from 
the  metropolis."  The  leading  ministers  of  the  State 
were  often  her  guests.  Dr.  Emmons,  of  Franklin; 
Dr.  L3'man,  of  Hatfield;  Dr.  John  Pierce,  of  Brook- 
line  ;  Dr.  Moore,  President  of  Amherst  College ;  Dr. 
Austin,  President  of  the  University  of  Vermont;  Dr. 
Spring,  of  Newburyport,  the  father  of  AndoverThe- 

'  Funeral  sermon,  by  Rev.  S.  G.  Dodd. 


38  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

ological  Seminary;  Doctors  Bellamy  and  Backus, 
of  Connecticut,  the  first  a  son  of  thunder  in  the 
pulpit,  and  the  second  invited  to  chairs  of  theologi- 
cal instruction  in  Yale  and  Dartmouth, —  these,  and 
men  like  them,  were  often  at  her  house.  She  and 
her  excellent  husband  enjoyed  the  society  of  such 
men,  and  their  theological  discussions  protracted  to 
late  hours  of  the  night  around  the  old  hearthstone. 
She  gloried  in  the  old  doctrines  of  the  New  Eng- 
land faith,  the  distinguishing  doctrines  of  grace. 
Her  soul  fed  upon  them.  Taught  at  her  mother's 
knee  the  Westminster  Catechism,  too  much  neg- 
lected, in  her  view,  in  these  days,  she  ever  retained 
her  partiality  for  it.  It  was  familiar  to  her  as  the 
alphabet,  and  often  she  occupied  the  slow  hours  of 
night  by  reciting  its  articles  and  reflecting  upon 
them.  "  With  the  works  of  Edwards,  Bellamy, 
and  Hopkins  she  was  familiar."  She  was  a  lover 
of  poetry,  and  often  entertained  her  friends  by  re- 
peating selections  from  the  standard  English  poets. 
Her  longevity  was  owing  in  great  measure,  it  is  be- 
lieved, to  her  habitual  cheerfulness.  "  She  never 
wasted  her  energies  in  pining  over  unavoidable  or 
imaginary  troubles.  She  early  learned  to  '  trust 
in  the  Lord  and  do  good,'  and  she  believed  the 
promise  that  goes  with  that  precept.  Sometimes 
in  wakeful  hours  of  the  night  she  could  be  heard 
singing  old  '  Denmark '  or  some  favorite  tune.  She 
believed  that  she  had  had  the  best  husband,  the 
best  children,  and  the  best  grandchildren  that  ever 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  39 

a  woman  had.  '  Your  grandfather,  my  child,'  said 
she,  '  was  as  good  a  man  as  God  ever  made,  and  no 
minister  ever  had  a  better  parish,  and  no  old  woman 
ever  had  better  or  kinder  care.'  And  so  her  life 
was  one  continued  hallelujah."  Her  minister  one 
day  said  to  her,  "  I  am  glad,  Mrs.  Pope,  to  see  you 
always  so  cheerful;"  to  which  she  replied  with  great 
spirit,  "  A  fretting  old  thing  would  be  intolerable." 
But  a  short  time  before  her  death  some  one  said  to 
her,  "  Grandmother,  your  trust  is  in  the  name  of 
Jesus."     She  roused  herself  and  said: 

"  Jesus,  my  God,  I  know  his  name. 
His  name  is  all  my  trust; 
Nor  will  he  put  my  soul  to  shame. 
Nor  let  my  hope  be  lost." 

This  noble  and  saintly  woman  was  brought  up 
under  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Meriam,  and  in  the 
home  of  a  godly  mother.  Here  was  a  character  of 
the  true  New  England  type,  in  which  were  piety 
and  intelligence  fed  by  God's  word  and  by  the  writ- 
ino-s  of  the  ablest  ministers  of  her  time.  We  hold 
her  name  in  orrateful  remembrance.     She  is  one  of 

o 

our  treasures.     Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is 
the  death  of  such  saints  as  she. 

Mrs.  Pope  always  retained  a  vivid  impression  of 
a  spectacle  that  was  once  presented  here  in  this 
Newton  church,  of  two  brothers  standing  up  in  the 
aisle  while  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving  was  offered  for 
the  preservation  of  their  lives  in  the  battle  of  Lex- 


40  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

ington,  bullets  having  passed  through  their  coats 
during  the  fight.^ 

On  the  13th  of  February,  1782,  began  a  pas- 
torate which  was  to  continue  fifty-seven  years. 
When  Rev.  Jonathan  Homer  accepted  his  call,  he 
had  declined  a  call  to  the  new  South  Church  in 
Boston, — the  church  whose  edifice  used  to  stand  on 
"  Church  Green  "  in  Summer  Street,  near  the  head 
of  Lincoln  Street.  It  is  greatly  to  his  credit  that  he 
declined  that  call,  on  the  ground  that  the  "  half-way 
covenant  "  was  in  use  in  that  church,  as  it  was,  in 
fact,  in  most  of  the  churches  in  Boston. 

This  remark  carries  us  back  to  the  memorable 
synod  of  1662,  held  in  Boston  to  discuss  the  rela- 
tion of  baptized  children  to  the  church.     A  result 

•  One  of  Mrs.  Pope's  granddaughters  thus  descrilies  Mrs.  Pope's  skilful  man- 
agement of  the  affairs  of  her  household :  "  My  grandfather's  salary  was 
seventy-three  pounds  and  ten  pence,  and  I  have  heard  it  said  that  during  the 
depreciation  of  the  Continental  currency  the  whole  salary  of  one  year  was 
used  to  buy  a  block-tin  teapot.  Nevertheless,  grandmother  had  the  faculty  of 
maintaining  an  open  and  liberal-handed  hospitality.  She  entertained  more 
company  than  almost  anybody  else,  and  yet  always  had  something  in  the  larder, 
and  often  said  she  never  knew  what  it  was  to  want.  Nobody  knew  how  she 
did  it,  but  everything  turns  to  profit  in  the  hand  of  industry  and  care.  The 
roses  in  the  garden  were  converted  into  rose-water  by  domestic  chemistry,  the 
quince-trees  sent  their  golden  burden  to  the  city  in  exchange  for  a  different 
currency,  the  chicken-yard  furnished  a  dinner  for  the  unexpected  guest,  and 
the  skilful  fingers  of  the  minister's  wife  and  daughter  made  bonnets  for  the 
village  belles  and  trimmed  them  with  artificial  flowers  of  their  own  manufac- 
ture. In  one  year  these  self-made  milliners  made  ninety-seven  bonnets,  which, 
if  not  equal  to  those  of  Aaron's  sons  for  glory  and  for  beauty,  were  at  least 
sufficiently  elegant  in  the  opinion  of  those  who  wore  them." 

The  allusions  which  have  been  made  to  the  visits  of  Doctors  Spring  and 
Emmons  at  the  house  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pope  are  the  more  interesting  when  it 
is  known  that  both  of  them  were  her  suitors.     The  tradition  is  that  Dr.  Spring 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  4I 

was  reached  which  was  most  disastrous  to  the 
cause  of  religion  in  New  England,  and  whose  in- 
fluence has  not  ceased  to  be  felt  even  to  this  day. 
Our  Puritan  fathers  attached  a  very  great  impor- 
tance to  the  rite  of  infant  baptism.  In  the  course 
of  time  some  of  their  children  baptized  in  infancy 
came  to  maturity  unregenerate,  and  therefore  they 
had  not  the  privilege  of  offering  their  children  for 
baptism.  We  can  easily  imagine  the  feelings  of  a 
Puritan  grandfather  towards  those  children.  His 
heart  yearned  toward  them,  standing,  as  he  felt  they 
did,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  promises,  strangers  to 
the  covenant,  and  aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of 
Israel.  Was  there  no  way  in  which  they  could 
come  into  the  inheritance  of  covenant  blessings? 

We  must  remember  that  in  the  view  of  our 
fathers  a  baptized  child  stood  in  a  very  interesting 
relation  to  the  church.  He  was  not  a  member  in 
full,  so  that  he  could  come  to  the  Lord's  table,  but 
in  a  qualified  sense  he  was   a  member,  and  in   the 

when  a  young  man  was  on  his  way  to  Newton  in  search  of  a  wife,  when  he 
met  Mr.  Pope,  whom  he  had  introduced  to  Miss  Hammond,  and  found  that  he 
was  on  his  way  to  the  same  house  and  with  the  same  intent.  The  situation 
was  delicate  and  perplexing.  After  some  deliberation  Dr.  Spring  generously 
said,  "  Brother  Pope,  you  have  a  parish  and  I  have  none.  I  give  way  to  you." 
When  Mrs.  Pope  was  a  widow  about  seventy-five  years  old,  and  Dr.  Emmons 
was  a  widower  about  eighty-five,  he  sent  her  by  the  hand  of  a  ministerial 
brother,  probably  his  son-in-law.  Rev.  Dr.  Ide,  of  Medway,  a  proposal  of  mar- 
riage. The  offer  was  declined,  and  when  it  was  pressed  with  some  urgency, 
with  reference  probably  to  the  eminence  of  the  suitor,  she  replied,  "No 
elevation  of  character  or  circumstances  could  have  a  feather's  weight  towards 
inducing  me  to  change  my  name.  I  hope  to  bear  it  while  I  live,  and  lie  by 
the  side  of  him  who  gave  it  to  me  when  I  die." 


42  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

discussions  of  that  synod,  after  long  and  warm 
debate  and  several  adjournments,  they  did  so 
magnify  this  qualified  and  partial  membership  that 
they  decided  that  if  the  person's  external  character 
was  good,  and  if  he  would  go  through  the  form  of 
owning  the  covenant,  that  is,  of  professing  his 
belief  in  the  doctrines  which  were  implied  in  it,  he 
might,  even  though  he  had  not  saving  faith,  present 
his  children  for  baptism.  At  least  this  was  what  it 
amounted  to,  though  they  would  not  have  stated 
the  case  just  in  this  form,  for  they  admitted  over 
and  over  in  the  debates  that  a  parent  ought  to  have 
saving  faith  before  he  offered  his  child  for  baptism; 
but  so  indispensable  was  it  in  their  view  that  the 
child  should  be  baptized,  that  they  tried  to  make 
themselves  believe  that  a  man  who  had  been  bap- 
tized in  infancy,  and  who  was  correct  in  his  man- 
ner of  life,  and  would  go  before  the  church  and 
publicly  give  his  assent  to  the  doctrines  held  by 
the  church,  had  saving  faith.  But  if  he  had  saving 
faith,  why  was  he  not  allowed  to  come  to  the 
Lord's  table?  In  this  they  showed  their  inconsist- 
ency. This  is  what  is  meant  by  the  "  half-way 
covenant;"  and  as  one  wrong  step  leads  to  another, 
these  half-way  church  members  soon  began  to  be 
considered  members  in  full,  and  were  admitted  to 
the  Lord's  table,  and  soon  it  came  to  pass  that  the 
churches  had  more  unconverted  members  in  them 
than  they  had  real  Christians.  It  should  be  added 
that  as   at   that   time    one    could   not  vote   or   hold 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  43 

office  without  being  a  church  member,  this  con- 
sideration may  have  influenced  the  action  of  the 
synod. 

The  half-wa}^  covenant  was  used  in  this  church 
in  the  time  of  Mr.  Meriam,  and  if  we  had  the 
records  which  were  burned  with  his  house  on 
Sunday  evening,  March  i8,  1770  (this  was  the 
second  time  that  the  church  records  were  de- 
stroyed by  fire),  we  should,  no  doubt,  find  that  it 
was  used  from  the  beginning.  The  Cambridge 
church  used  it,  and  the  influence  of  their  min- 
ister, Mr.  Mitchell,  did  more  to  determine  the 
question  in  the  synod  than  that  of  an}^  other  man. 
In  the  records  of  our  church,  made  up  from  memory 
in  1773,  three  years  after  the  fire,  we  find,  besides 
the  names  of  church  members  and  of  baptized 
children,  more  than  a  hundred  names  of  persons 
who  had  "  owned  the  covenant."  One  of  these 
names  is  that  of  Michael  Jackson,  the  man  who 
was  so  determined  that  his  company  should  get  a 
shot  at  the  British  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775. 
Those  who  thus  owned  the  covenant  probably  did 
it  for  the  sake  of  having  their  children  baptized, 
though  it  is  true  that  in  the  early  times,  and  even 
before  the  synod  of  1662,  the  owning  of  the  cove- 
nant was  practised  as  a  step  toward  a  Christian 
life.  Adults  who  had  not  been  baptized  in  infancy 
sometimes  offered  themselves  for  baptism  with  the 
same  view.  These  acts  were  considered  as  a 
partial    acknowledgment    of    the    claims    of  God 


44  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Upon  them,  and  man}'  were  willing  to  go  as  far  as 
that  who  did  not  profess  to  have  saving  faith.  The 
ministers  encouraged  these  acts.  Mr.  Cotton,  in 
one  of  his  sermons,  sa3's:  "Those  of  you  who  have 
neglected  baptism,  arise  and  be  baptized  this  day. 
Those  of3'ou  who  were  baptized  in  infancy,  but  do 
not  come  to  the  Lord's  table,  come  forward  and 
own  the  covenant."  After  thc}^  had  done  this  he 
would  urge  them  to  prepare  themselves,  by  the 
exercise  of  saving  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  come 
to  the  Lord's  table.  The  names  of  persons  intend- 
ing to  ofter  themselves  for  baptism,  or  for  owning 
the  covenant,  were  announced  from  the  pulpit,  and 
the  minister  propounded  three  classes  of  persons, — 
those  who  were  to  be  baptized;  those  who  were  to 
own  the  covenant,  either  on  their  own  account  or 
on  their  children's  account;  and  those  who  were  to 
be  admitted  to  full  communion  and  come  to  the 
Lord's  table.^  A  young  person  who  had  owned 
the  covenant,  on  changing  his  place  of  residence, 
would  sometimes  carry  a  letter  from  his  minister 
stating  the  precise  relation  in  which  he  stood  to 
the  church. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1782,  the  very  day  that 
Mr.  Homer  wrote  his    letter   accepting  the  call  of 

'The  Haverhill  minister,  whose  wife  was  Mr.  Cotton's  sister,  writing  to  Mr. 
Cotton,  three  weeks  after  the  earthquake,  said  :  "  I  have  admitted  and  pro- 
pounded 154  persons  since  the  earthquakes;  87  for  the  Lord's  table,  the  rest 
for  baptism,  or  for   renewing   their  baptismal  covenant. 

"  Your  loving  brother, 

"JOHN  BROWN." 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.         ^  45 

this  church,  the  church  voted  that  the  practice  of 
admitting-  persons  to  the  privilege  of  baptism  for 
their  children  upon  their  giving  their  assent  to  the 
covenant  is  disagreeable  to  this  church,  and  that 
for  the  future  those  only  who  are  in  full  com- 
munion (one  of  the  parents  at  least)  are  to  expect 
that  privilege.  The  church  probably  supposed  this 
action  to  be  necessary  in  order  to  secure  Mr. 
Homer  for  their  minister,  for  if  they  had  not  taken 
it  he  would  have  declined  their  call,  as  he  had  his 
call  to  the  Boston  church.  Some  of  the  members 
of  the  church  were  greatly  aggrieved  by  this  vote, 
and  they  tried  very  hard  to  get  it  rescinded.  Fail- 
ing of  this,  they  wanted  a  council  called;  but  this 
the  church  refused.  They  sought  an  interview 
with  Mr.  Homer,  and  expressed  to  him  their  dis- 
satisfaction with  his  views  upon  this  subject.  But 
both  the  minister  and  the  church  stood  firm,  and  the 
half-way  covenant  practices  were  abolished  forever. 
It  was  a  noble  triumph  of  Christian  principle  for 
Mr.  Homer,  for  conscience'  sake,  to  prefer  Newton 
with  a  small  salary,  to  Boston  with  a  large  one  and 
with  its  refined  and  literar}^  society.  His  deeply 
religious  spirit,  his  literary  taste,  and  the  pleasing 
style  in  which  he  writes,  are  seen  in  the  letter  in 
which  he  accepts  his  call,  and  still  more  in  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  to  a  young  kinsman  of  his,  nigh  to 
death,  in  which  he  urged  upon  him,  in  the  most  kind 
and  delicate,  and  yet  in  a  very  faithful  manner,  the 
necessity    of    preparation     for    that    solemn    event. 


46  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

This  letter  is  in  Dr.  S.  F.  Smith's  "  History  of  New- 
ton," is  addressed  to  George  Homer,  Jr.,  Boston,  and 
is  as  follows:  — 

Newton,  Feb.  11,  181 1. 
My  dear  young  kinsman : 

I  have  but  lately  learnt  that  you  were  seriously  unwell,  and  that  your 
indisposition  increased  rather  than  abated.  I  most  ardently  wish  that 
your  health  may  be  re-established,  and  that  your  parents  may  long 
rejoice  in  your  society.  But  whatever  may  be  the  ultimate  determina- 
tion of  Heaven  respecting  your  life,  it  will  be  of  no  disservice  to  you  to 
improve  your  present  seclusion  from  the  world,  to  seek  and  establish 
your  immortal  interests. 

I  also  once  had,  as  you  well  know,  an  only  son,  who  was  also  my 
only  child.  When  his  complaints  were  serious,  I  was  principally  solici- 
tous that  he  should  be  a  real  and  habitual  Christian.  I  knew,  I  said 
to  him,  that  in  this  case,  the  issue,  whatever  it  were,  would  be  the  pro- 
motion of  his  best  good.  I  wished  for  evidence  of  that  thorough  con- 
version from  sin  to  holiness,  from  the  world  to  God,  which  is  effected 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  accompanying  the  truth  on  the  heart  of  the  regen- 
erate. I  wished  for  evidence  that  he  "knew  the  plague  of  his  own 
heart ; "  that  he  understood  the  law  of  Heaven  to  be  holy,  just,  and 
good ;  that  he  was  liable  to  the  penalties  of  this  law,  violated  by  the 
most  virtuous  ;  that  his  salvation  rested  on  sovereign,  unmerited  mercy, 
and  must  be  effected  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  hope  of  a  peni- 
tent sinner  towards  God.  1  wished  him  to  call  on  the  Lord  in  humble, 
fervent  prayer,  commending  his  soul  and  body  to  that  infinite  grace 
which  had  provided  a  ransom  for  lost  sinners.  I  wished  him  to  behold 
and  trust  in  the  Redeemer  as  "  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to 
every  believer,"  through  whose  obedience  unto  death  and  perfect  sacri- 
fice he  might  be  justified  at  the  divine  tribunal.  I  wished  him  to  see 
the  evil  nature,  as  well  as  bitter  consequences,  of  sin,  in  thought  as  well 
as  word  and  deed,  and  the  beauty  of  holiness,  strict  evangelical  holi- 
ness. 1  wished  him  to  seek  salvation  from  sin  as  well  as  misery,  and  to 
desire  heaven  as  a  region  of  purity  as  well  as  felicity.  I  think  I  have 
reason  to  hope  that  this  my  wish  and  prayer  were  granted.  The  hope 
of  this  has  frequently  soothed  his  mother  and  me. 

I  believe  that  your  affectionate,  anxious  parents  cherish  the  same 
ardent  wish  for  you.     You  and  they  have  great  reason  of  thankfulness 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  47 

for  your  preservation  from  gross  vice,  and  that  you  have  exhibited  a 
winning  deportment.  Much  of  filial  piety  has  adorned  you.  But  you 
will  not  view  me  censorious  for  addressing  you  as  a  sinner,  who  is 
dependent  on  Him  who  "  will  have  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have 
mercy."  "We  have  all  sinned,""  yet  there  is  hope.  Each  one  best 
knows  his  advantages  and  obligations,  the  light  and  love  against  which 
his  sins  have  been  committed.  I  have  heard,  on  many  occasions,  the 
most  humble  and  self-abasing  language  from  the  purest  characters. 
There  is  no  danger  of  humbling  ourselves  too  greatly  before  God,  if  we 
do  not  despair  of  his  mercy.  "  Humble  yourself  under  the  mighty  hand 
of  God,  that  he  may  exalt  you  in  due  time ;  casting  all  your  care 
upon  him  ;  for  he  careth  for  you." —  i  Peter  v.  6,  7.  Remember  that 
the  Saviour  hath  come  to  "heal  the  broken-hearted."  If,  upon  ex- 
amination, you  approve,  you  love  his  character  and  redemption,  you 
are  willing  to  be  saved  by  him  and  through  him,  he  will  love  and  save 
you.  "  Him  who  cometh  unto  me,"  hath  he  said,  "  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out."  "  Whosoever  will,"  hath  been  his  invitation,  since  his 
ascension  and  glorification,  "  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 

May  he  be  precious  to  you.  May  you  "  believe  and  rejoice  in  him 
with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  Living  or  dying,  my  dear 
young  friend,  may  you  be  the  Lord's.  May  your  parents  yield  you  to  the 
disposal  of  their  and  your  infinitely  wise  and  beneficent  Proprietor. 
May  your  dear  sisters  learn  the  lesson  of  salvation  from  you  and  your 
history.  May  they  all,  and  you  and  we,  meet  and  mingle  at  length 
around  the  throne  of  the  Redeemer,  "see  him  as  he  is,"  and  be  like 
him,  serve  him  with  his  servants,  and  tune  our  harps  to  his  eternal 
praise,  —  is  the  wish  and  prayer  of 

Yours  affectionately, 

JONA.    HOMER. 
Geo.  Homer,  Jr.,  Boston. 

The  first  person  received  into  the  church  by  Dr. 
Homer  was  Nathan  Park,  the  grandfather  of  Prof. 
Edwards  A.  Park,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  Andover. 
He  had  five  children  who  had  not  been  baptized; 
and  they  were  all  presented  for  baptism  at  one 
time,  the  oldest  being  sixteen   years  old,  and  the 


48  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

youngest,  who  was  Professor  Park's  father,  eight 
years.  The  church  considered  the  question  of 
having  these  children  baptized,  and  decided  that, 
"  as  none  of  a  believer's  children  are  exempted 
from  the  promise  made  to  the  believer  and  his 
seed;  and  all  Brother  Park's  children,  though  the 
oldest  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  were  under  his 
tuition  and  guidance  as  his  household,  so  it  was 
proper  that  they  should  receive,  on  his  account,  the 
seal  of  baptism."  All  of  Professor  Park's  ancestors 
back  to  the  time  of  Richard  Park,  one  of  the  first 
members  of  the  church,  have  been  baptized  here, 
and  it  is  eminently  fit  that  he  should  be  with  us 
to-day,  and  take  part  in  these  exercises. 

Mr.  Homer  was  a  very  acceptable  and  popular 
preacher.  He  spoke  easily  without  notes  in  the 
pulpit,  and  excelled  in  conversation,  which  made 
his  pastoral  visits  agreeable  to  his  people.  Blake's 
Biographical  Dictionary  says  he  was  one  of  the 
most  beloved  Congregational  clergymen  in  Massa- 
chusetts, universally  esteemed  as  a  man  of  learning 
and  piety.  He  read  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Latin, 
and  learned  Spanish  after  he  was  sixty  years  old. 

In  the  year  18 16  he  spent  twelve  weeks  doing 
missionary  work  in  Stratham,  N.PI.,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge.  There  were  several  denominations 
there,  much  sectarian  spirit,  much  ignorance  and 
opposition  to  what  they  called  hirelings,  that  is,  to 
educated    ministers.     A    minister  b}'   the    name   of 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  49 

Metcalf  preached  there  once  in  two  weeks.  It  was 
proposed  that  Mr.  Homer  should  preach  on  the 
alternate  Sabbath,  when  otherwise  the  pulpit  would 
be  vacant.  Mr.  Homer  made  a  good  impression 
upon  all,  and  the  prospect  of  union  and  harmony 
seemed  excellent.  But  Mr.  Metcalf  did  not  like 
the  good  impression  which  Mr.  Homer  had  pro- 
duced, and  said  that  if  he  preached  there  a  second 
Sabbath  he  should  leave.  This  threat  lost  him  the 
confidence  of  those  who  had  paid  him  nine-tenths 
of  his  salary.  Mr.  Homer  tried  to  pacify  and  con- 
ciliate him;  but  he  saw  that  his  influence  was  gone, 
and  he  left  the  place,  though  he  admitted  that  he 
could  not  blame  Mr.  Homer,  his  manner  toward 
him  had  been  so  kind.  One  man  said  he  believed 
these  Cono'reo'ational  ministers  wanted  to  make 
Protestants  of  them,  and  get  control  of  them, 
showing  that  he  did  not  know  what  a  Protestant 
is.  Mr.  Homer,  in  giving  an  account  of  this  in  a 
letter  to  Dr.  James  Freeman,  the  minister  of  King's 
Chapel,  said,  ''  I  have  my  temper  sometimes  tried, 
but  I  have  been  so  kept  that  I  have  not  lost  it  a 
moment." 

On  account  of  the  prejudice  against  written  ser- 
mons, Mr.  Homer  preached  unwritten  ones.  He 
preached  at  private  houses,  visited  the  people  in 
their  homes,  and  labored  in  every  way  to  overcome 
prejudice.  His  labors  were  greatly  enjoyed.  Those 
who  at  first  hated  him,  because  that  by  means  of 
him  they  had  lost  their  minister,  afterward  admitted 


50  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

that  he  had  treated  them  so  kindly  that  they  could 
not  hate  him  any  longer.  The  report  of  the  Society 
which  sent  him  there  sa3'S  that  he  visited  the  sick 
and  afflicted,  instructed  the  3'oung  and  ignorant, 
urging  upon  all  the  necessity  of  religion,  and  by 
his  kind,  candid,  and  affectionate  deportment  to  all 
of  every  denomination,  inspiring  them  with  some 
portion  of  his  own  spirit  of  conciliation.  He  did 
great  o-ood.  A  jjood  number  were  brouirht  under 
serious  impressions,  and  some  became  hopefull}^ 
pious.  After  he  left.  Rev.  William  Greenough, 
of  the  West  Parish,  went  there,  and  engaged  in 
similar  labor  for  one  month. 

Dr.  Homer  devoted  many  of  the  later  3^ears  of 
his  life  to  an  enthusiastic  study  of  the  different 
English  translations  of  the  Bible,  from  that  of 
Wycliffe  to  that  of  1611.  He  intended  to  write  a 
history  of  them.  The  late  Prof.  B.  B.  Edwards, 
of  Andover,  said  he  was  better  qualified  to  do 
it  than  any  other  person  in  the  country.  A  con- 
clusion which  he  reached  was  that  King  James's 
Bible  was  in  no  -part  a  new  translation  taken 
directly  from  the  originals.  He  had  the  most 
ample  facilities  for  ascertaining  the  truth  of  this 
statement.  Plis  shelves  were  filled  with  rare  and 
choice  books  bearing  upon  the  subject,  many  of 
them  obtained  from  England  with  great  painstaking 
and  expense,  and  he  performed  the  almost  in- 
credible labor  of  finding  out  by  personal  examina- 
tion the  source  from  which  the  translation  of  ever}' 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  51 

verse  in  the  Bible  was  taken;  and  he  showed, 
what  he  had  previously  asserted,  but  what  had 
been  denied  by  biblical  scholars,  both  English  and 
American,  that  not  a  single  verse  in  King  James's 
version  was  newly  translated,  but  that  the  whole  of 
it  was  taken  from  other  versions  and  was  a  com- 
pilation. He  showed  that  thirt3^-two  parts  out  of 
thirty-three  were  taken  from  former  English  ver- 
sions, chiefly  from  the  Bishops'  Bible,  and  that  the 
remaining  thirty-third  part  was  drawn  ixom  foreign 
versions  and  comments.  Having  announced  this 
result  of  his  investigations,  he  quoted  the  words 
of  the  translators  themselves,  that  they  "  had  never 
thought  from  the  beginning  of  the  need  of  makino- 
a  new  translation."  ^ 

'  In  the  "  Biblical  Repository  "  for  October,  1835,  ^t  the  close  of  an  article  on 
"  Early  English  Versions  of  the  Bible,"  may  be  found  a  letter  from  Dr.  Homer 
on  that  subject.  In  February,  1838,  he  wrote  an  article  for  the  Supplement 
to  Dr.  Jenks's  Comprehensive  Commentary,  which  may  be  found  near  the  middle 
of  the  volume,  on  page  55  of  the  "  Guide  to  the  Study  of  the  Bible,"  in  which 
he  spoke  of  the  need  of  revising  the  authorized  version  in  view  of  its  errors  in 
grammar,  syntax,  and  translation,  and  its  obsolete  words. 

The  following  statements  have  been  either  made  directly  by  Dr.  Homer,  or 
have  been  suggested  by  the  perusal  of  his  writings. 

Beginning  with  Matthew's  Bible  of  1537,  from  which  all  later  revisions  have 
been  formed,  he  says,  "  This  Bible  was  executed  by  the  very  best  scholars  in 
Hebrew,  Greek,  German,  and  English."  The  translation  was  partly  that  of 
Tyndale,  who  is  the  real  author  of  our  English  Bible,  and  partly  that  of  Cover- 
dale,  a  friend  of  Tyndale,  but  the  whole  was  revised  and  corrected  by  John  Rogers, 
the  Hrst  martyr  of  Queen  Mary's  reign.  This  Bible  soon  superseded  that  of 
Coverdale,  but  being  burdened  with  notes,  to  which  opposition  was  made.  Cover- 
dale  was  invited,  in  153S,  to  undertake  a  new  edition  on  the  basis  of  Matthew. 
This  he  did,  and  in  1539  appeared  "  The  Great  Bible,"  commonly  called  Cran- 
mer's,  because  he  furthered  the  work  and  wrote  a  preface  to  it.  "  It  was  pub- 
lished," says  Dr.  Homer,  "  under  the  dread  of  the  frown  and  rejection  of  Henry 


52  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

It  has  been  generally  admitted  that,  in  the  time 
of  the  Unitarian  defection,  Dr.  Homer  was  con- 
siderabl}'  influenced  by  his  man}^  friends,  both 
ministers  and  others,  who  embraced  the  erroneous 
views. 

Mr.  Bushnell,  who  came  here  more  than  a  3'ear 
before  Dr.  Homer's  death,  sa3's  that  he  was  liberal 
in  his  theology,  influenced,  no  doubt,  by  his  inti- 
macy with  Dr.  Pierce,  of  Brookline,  and  Dr.  Free- 
man, of  King's  Chapel,  whose  wife  was  a  sister  of 
Mrs.  Homer.  Dr.  Gilbert,  of  West  Newton,  used 
to  speak  of  Dr.  Homer  in  the  same  wa}^  But  Dr. 
Homer  was  also  intimate  with  Dr.  Codman,  with 
Rev.  Mr.  Greenough,  of  the  West  Parish,  and  with 
Rev.   Mr.   Grafton,   of  the    Baptist   church    in  this 

VIII  and  his  clergy.  Cranmer  was  dissatisfied  with  it,  and  when  young  Edward 
came  to  the  throne,  sent  for  three  German  scholars  to  aid  him  in  effecting  a 
new  translation.     The  early  death  of  two  of  them  frustrated  his  intent." 

The  Geneva  New  Testament,  probably  by  Whittingham,  who  had  married 
Calvin's  sister,  was  published  in  1557,  with  an  introduction  by  Calvin.  The 
completed  Geneva  Bible,  always  a  favorite  one  with  the  Puritans,  appeared  in 
1560,  with  marginal  notes  so  full  that  they  might  be  called  a  commentary. 
The  book  was  a  moderate  quarto  in  size,  suitable  for  popular  use,  and  it 
immediately  became  the  Bible  of  the  people,  and  continued  to  be  so  for 
seventy-five  years.  They  said  there  was  no  discerning  the  Word  of  God  aright 
except  through  the  "Genevan  spectacles."  This  is  no  doubt  the  Bible  which 
our  Pilgrim  and  Puritan  fathers  brought  with  them  to  this  country.  "  Eliza- 
beth and  her  primate  disliked  and  rejected  it,"  says  Dr.  Homer,  "  on  account 
of  the  nt)tes,  in  which  was  expressed  so  much  al)horrence  of  tyranny."  One 
of  these  notes,  on  Rev.  ix.  3,  where  locusts  are  described  as  coming  out  of  the 
smoke  of  the  bottomless  pit,  says,  "  Locusts  are  false  teachers,  heretics,  and 
worldly  subtle  prelates,  with  monks,  friars,  cardinals,  patriarchs,  archbishops, 
bishops,  doctors,  bachelors,  and  masters,  which  forsake  Christ  to  maintain 
false  doctrine." 

"The  proprietors  of  this  Bil)le,"  says  Dr.  Homer,  "  were  refused  the  privi- 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  53 

place,  and  the  result  was  that  he  adhered  to  the 
ancient  foith.  Dr.  Codman  said  that  he  was  de- 
cidedly evangelical  and  orthodox,  though  liberal 
and  catholic  in  his  feelings  towards  other  denomina- 
tions, and  he  acknowledged  gratefully  the  sympathy 
which  he  had  received  from  him  in  the  trials 
through  which  he  had  passed  in  the  Unitarian  con- 
troversy. 

A  smile  is  sometimes  awakened  at  the  mention 
of  Dr.  Homer's  name,  because  of  the  many  queer 
and  stranire  thing^s  that  have  been  told  of  him.  He 
was  a  very  absent-minded  man,  and  his  wife  was 
constantly  expecting  some  odd  event  to  occur  from 
his  eccentric   ways.     Professor   Park  says  that  he 

lege  of  publishing  it  in  England  unless  they  would  omit  the  notes,  but  so  great 
was  the  demand  for  it,  that  a  fresh  edition  was  published  every  year  for  thirty 
years  unthoiit  permission,  nor  was  a  single  one  of  the  objectionable  notes 
omitted." 

This  statement  of  Dr.  Homer  is  far  within  bounds,  for  Westcott  says  that 
between  1560  and  161 1  more  than  a  hundred  editions  of  the  Geneva  Bible 
were  published.  Dr.  Homer  justly  refers  to  the  influence  of  the  notes  of  this 
remarkable  Bible  upon  the  English  Revolution  of  1688,  and  remotely  upon  our 
own  Revolution  of  1776. 

The  Bishops' Bible  was  published  in  1568,  and  was  called  Elizabeth's  Oppo- 
sition Bible,  because  its  principal  oliject  was  to  displace  the  Geneva  Bible.  It 
was  but  a  slight  variation  from  the  Great  Bible  and  the  Geneva  Bible.  Dr. 
Homer  ascertained  that  "  about  two-thirds  of  the  new  and  best  text  of  the 
Geneva  Bible  had  been  used  in  the  Bishops'  Bible  without  acknowledgment  or 
apology.  The  very  notes,  too,  of  the  proscribed  Geneva  Bible,  so  far  as  they 
were  merely  critical  and  not  revolutionary,  were  found  spread  over  the  whole 
of  the  new  Court  Bible.  Only  eight  editions  of  this  Bible  are  known  to  have 
been  published,  and  these  were  required  chiefly  for  the  reading-desks  of  the 
churches." 

These  two  Bibles,  the  Geneva  and  the  Bishops',  continued  in  use  during  the 
remainder  of  Elizabeth's  reign. 


54  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

and  Professor  Edwards  and  others  were  once  in- 
vited to  dine  at  Dr.  Homer's,  When  they  were 
called  to  dinner  they  went  into  the  dining-room 
and  took  their  places  around  the  table,  their  host 
not  being  present.  Soon,  however,  he  appeared  at 
the  door  of  the  room,  and  seeing  that  the  company 
were  waiting  for  him,  immediately  commenced 
asking  the  blessing.  By  the  time  he  had  reached 
his  place  at  the  table  he  got  through  with  the 
blessing,  and  then  saluted  his  guests.  Other  stories 
about  Dr.  Homer,  under  the  name  of  "  Parson 
Carryl,"  may  be  found  in  "The  Minister's  House- 
keeper," one  of  Sam  Lawson's  Oldtown  Fireside 
Stories,  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.     In  view 

"  In  1603,  soon  after  King  James  came  to  the  throne,  the  Puritan  scholars 
and  others,  men  of  all  parties,  indeed,  desiring  as  perfect  a  Bible  as  they  could 
have,  applied  to  the  king  for  a  new  revision,  alleging  that  in  the  Bishops'  Bible 
there  were  many  errors  of  translation.  To  this  the  king  and  his  primate  re- 
luctantly consented,  but  ordered  that  the  text  of  the  Bishops'  Bible  should  be 
followed  as  far  as  the  originals  would  permit,  and  no  notes  be  appended." 

The  result  was  the  Bible  of  161 1,  which,  by  its  intrinsic  excellence,  quickly 
took  the  foremost  place,  and  held  it  for  260  years  before  a  substitute  was 
called  for.  Dr.  Homer  thinks  that  this  Bible  might  have  been  better  still  if  the 
revisers  had  been  allowed  to  make  a  new  translation,  as  some  of  them  wished 
to  do.  The  English  people's  love  of  the  Bible  is  seen  in  their  desire  to  have 
it  in  as  perfect  a  form  as  possible. 

Seven  revisions  were  made  between  1535  and  161 1.  Dr.  Homer  called  very 
earnestly  for  another  in  183S.     It  came  in  1881. 

In  the  Boston  Athenxum  are  two  editions  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament, 
with  notes  on  the  margins  in  the  handwriting  of  Dr.  Homer.  In  the  larger 
edition,  bearing  the  date  of  1552,  his  name  is  written  in  full  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Gospel  of  Luke. 

Mr.  John  P.  Dabney,  in  preparing  his  edition  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament, 
visited  Dr.  Homer  very  frequently,  and  obtained  from  him  much  valuable 
information. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  55 

of  them  all  Father  Greenoiigh  once  said,  "You 
may  laugh  as  much  as  you  will  at  Brother  Homer, 
there  is  no  man  among  us  who  carries  with  him  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel  from  Monday  morning  to  Satur- 
day night  better  than  he." 

The  year  1827  was  the  crowning  year  of  Dr. 
Homer's  long  ministry.  Seventy-one  persons  were 
received  into  the  church  in  that  year,  —  as  many  as 
had  been  received  in  the  previous  nineteen  years. 
This  revival  began  in  November,  1826,  when,  Dr. 
Homer  says,  there  were  three  or  four  inquirers 
with  evidence  of  conversion  soon  after  the  creat 
day  of  prayer  and  assembling  of  certain  evangelical 
churches  in  Boston  at  Rev.  Mr.  Beecher's.  Dr. 
Beecher's  arrival  in  Boston,  in  1826,  was  a  great 
event.  Previously  our  churches  had  stood  on  the 
defensive  against  the  Unitarians.  Dr.  Beecher  was 
a  man  who  could  lead  an  assault,  and  it  is  very 
likely  that  the  revival  of  1827  in  this  church  was 
in  some  measure  due  to  the  influence  of  what 
Dr.  Homer  calls  the  great  day  of  prayer  in  Mr. 
Beecher's  church  in  Boston.  Many  children  and 
youth  in  our  Sunday-school  became  interested. 
By  the  first  of  May,  1827,  there  had  been  one 
hundred  and  twenty  inquirers  and  seventy  or  eighty 
hopeful  conversions.  From  this  it  would  seem 
probable  that  many  of  the  thirty-two  pei"sons  who 
joined  the  church  in  1828  were  a  part  of  the  fruit 
of  this  revival. 

Dr.  Homer  died  August  11,  1843,  and  his  funeral 


56  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

was  on  Sunday  afternoon,  August  13.  The  other 
churches  of  the  town  omitted  their  usual  services, 
and  were  present  with  their  pastors  on  the  occasion. 
Prayers  were  offered  by  Rev.  Mr.  Bushnell,  by  Dr. 
Gilbert,  and  by  Dr.  S.  F.  Smith.  A  long  procession 
moved  to  the  place  of  burial,  preceded  by  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Sunday-school.  The  sermon  was  by 
Dr.  Codman,  of  Dorchester.  Speaking  of  the  catho- 
licity of  Dr.  Homer,  he  said :  "  Many  of  his  relatives 
and  personal  friends  differed  from  him  in  religious 
opinions,  but  he  ever  cherished  toward  them  the 
warmest  affections  of  love  and  friendship.  There 
was  no  bigotry  in  him.  His  heart  overflowed  with 
love  to  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  every 
sect  and  name.  He  lived  on  terms  of  Christian 
intimacy  and  friendship  with  Mr.  Grafton,  the 
Baptist  minister  of  this  place;  he  took  the  liveliest 
interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  Theological  Insti- 
tution on  the  hill,  and  maintained  a  fraternal  and 
paternal  intimacy  with  its  officers  and  students. 
His  library  was  always  at  their  service  for  use  and 
reference.  In  fine.  Dr.  Homer  was  not  a  de- 
nominational Christian,  but  a  member  of  the  Church 
universal."  Dr.  Codman  then  speaks  of  his  "  active 
and  unwearied  benevolence,  childlike  simplicity, 
easy  confidence  in  others,  approaching  to  credulity, 
and  the  tendency  of  his  mind  to  one  engrossing 
subject;"  that  is,  to  the  English  versions  of  the 
Bible. 

"  Dr.  and   Mrs.   Homer  loved    this    people,  and 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  57 

lived  for  them.  No  sacrifices  of  a  worldly  and 
pecuniary  nature  were  too  great  for  them  to  make, 
if  they  could  promote  the  welfare  of  this  flock. 
After  the  loss  of  their  only  son,  their  aflfections  were 
concentrated  still  more  upon  the  beloved  people  of 
their  charge.  Dr.  Homer's  heart  was  full  of  the 
tenderest  sympathy  for  the  suffering.  He  took 
orphans  and  homeless  children  to  his  own  house, 
and  gave  them  a  home  till  they  could  be  provided 
for.  More  than  thirt}'  were  cared  for  by  him  in 
this  way.  In  a  ministry  of  fifty-seven  years  he  was 
scarcely  ever  detained  half  a  day  from  the  house  of 
God.  By  his  singular  activity  in  the  performance 
of  ministerial  duty  he  accomplished  an  almost  in- 
credible amount  of  labor.  He  was  instant  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  teaching  and  preaching 
Jesus  Christ,  not  only  in  the  temple,  but  from  house 
to  house.  He  loved  to  preach.  It  was  his  meat 
and  drink." 

Dr.  Homer's  preaching  was  not  so  much  enjoyed 
in  the  last  years  of  his  life  as  it  had  formerly  been. 
This  is  not  strange.  His  advanced  age  would 
account  for  it  in  part,  and  then  the  absorption  of 
his  mind  in  the  one  study  to  which  he  had  devoted 
his  later  years  stood  in  the  way  of  his  making  the 
needful  preparation  for  the  pulpit. 

An  incident  illustrating  the  very  warm  friendship 
existinof  between  Dr.  Homer  and  Father  Grafton 
should  be  related.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  Homer's 
only    son    and    only  child,  he  preached    a  sermon 


58  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

with  reference  to  the  sad  event.  Father  Grafton 
dismissed  his  congregation,  and  came  and  sat  in 
the  pulpit  with  his  afflicted  brother,  and  offered  the 
prayer.  He  had  been  afflicted  himself,  and  he 
knew  how  to  sympathize  with  the  afflicted. 

Rev.  James  Bates  was  ordained  as  colleague-pastor 
with  Dr.  Homer  in  November,  1827.  In  his  letter 
accepting  the  call  to  this  place  he  said,  "  I  shall  be 
placed  in  a  situation  of  awful  responsibility.  Duties 
almost  overwhelming  will  be  imposed  upon  me; 
duties  which  will  have  an  important  bearing  on 
our  present  and  eternal  welfare,  and  which  will 
probably  be  attended  with  momentous  and  ever- 
lasting consequences  to  coming  generations."  These 
words  are  characteristic  of  the  man.  He  was  pro- 
foundly sensible  of  the  infinite  and  amazing  inter- 
ests which  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  contemplates. 
His  soul  was  habitually  penetrated  with  the  thought 
of  them.  Those  to  whom  he  ministered  were  to 
live  forever  in  one  world  or  another,  very  much 
according  as  he  should  be  faithful  to  his  duty.  The 
burden  of  these  souls  was  ever  on  his  heart.  When 
he  said  it  was  an  "  awful  responsibility,"  he  said 
what  he  deeply  felt  to  be  true.  There  were  people 
here  —  and  some  are  still  living  —  who  thought  he 
dwelt  too  much  in  his  preaching  upon  the  dreadful 
doom  of  those  who  die  in  impenitence.  Perhaps 
he  did.  He  may  have  had  a  morbid  fear  that  he 
should  fail  to  declare  the  whole  truth,  or  he  may 
have  thought  the  warnings  of  Scripture  best  adapted 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  59 

to  lead  his  hearers  to  repentance.  No  one  can 
doubt  that  his  desire  to  save  them  was  the  passion 
of  his  life,  and  his  labors  were  not  in  vain.  The 
additions  to  the  church  during  his  ministry  were 
unusually  large.  It  is  true  that  other  agencies 
were  at  work.  The  revival  of  1827,  under  Dr. 
Homer,  had  not  spent  itself  when  he  came  here. 
A  ver}^  successful  four  days'  meeting  was  held  in 
October,  1831,  at  which  Dr.  Beecher  and  Dr. 
Wisner  were  among  the  preachers,  and  the  period 
from  that  time  to  1835  ^'^^  ^ne  of  those  great  re- 
vival eras  in  which  the  windows  of  heaven  are 
open  all  over  the  land  to  pour  down  salvation. 
Still  it  is  a  ijreat  blessinc:  to  a  church  in  times 
of  revival  to  have  a  minister  who  is  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  it,  and  who  does  all  in  his  power  to 
promote   it. 

Mr.  Bates  had  for  helpers  two  such  deacons  as 
an}^  minister  might  be  thankful  for,  —  Elijah  F. 
Woodward  and  William  Jackson.  Deacon  Wood- 
ward came  of  a  godly  stock.  Four  generations  of 
his  ancestors  had  lived  and  pra3'ed  and  died  in  the 
house  in  which  he  was  born.  His  father  and 
grandfather  were  deacons.  He  was  made  deacon 
at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  and  held  the  office  as 
long  as  he  lived.  He  was  twenty-nine  years 
superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school.  He  entered 
the  choir  at  the  age  of  eleven,  and  remained  there 
forty-eight  years.  Half  of  this  period  he  was  the 
leader,    with     voice    and    viol,    of  thirt}'    or    forty 


6o  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

singers  and  players,  among  whom  were  five  of  his 
own  children.  His  amiability,  calmness,  and  wis- 
dom kept  the  choir  harmonious  in  feeling,  as  well  as 
in  song.  He  lived  two  miles  from  the  meeting- 
house, and  yet  no  one  was  more  constant  or  more 
punctual  than  he  in  attendance  upon  all  the  meet- 
ings of  the  church  and  of  the  choir,  both  in  the  day- 
time and  in  the  evening.  Often  he  took  a  shovel 
in  his  sleigh  to  make  a  path  through  snow- 
drifts. He  was  farmer,  teacher,  surve3^or,  town 
clerk,  and  treasurer,  and  yet  his  duties  to  the  church 
were  never  neglected.  His  horse  had  heard  the 
doxology  in  Old  Hundred  sung  so  many  times 
that  he  learned  to  recocrnize  the  sino-ing-  of  it  as  the 
closing  exercise  of  an  evening  meeting,  and  when 
he  heard  it  he  backed  out  of  the  shed  and  walked 
up  to  the  chapel  door,  where  he  waited  till  his 
master  came  out.  As  town  clerk/  Deacon  Wood- 
ward was  alwa3'S  present  at  the  town-meetings,  but 
took  no  part  in  the  debates  unless  called  upon  to 
express  his  views.  Once,  when  the  meeting  was 
getting  warm  over  a  dispute,  some  one  said,  "  Let 

'  One  of  his  duties  as  town  clerk  was  to  announce  intentions  of  marriage. 
Tiiis  he  did  from  his  place  in  the  choir,  just  before  the  benediction. 

One  Sabbath  he  saw  in  a  high  pew,  back  of  the  choir,  some  young  men 
intent  upon  something  other  than  the  sermon.  He  rose  and  turned  toward 
them,  and  stood  looking  at  them.  They  were  so  much  occupied  that  they  did 
not  see  him.  He  stood  so  long  that  the  attention  of  large  numbers  in  the 
broad  galleries  on  both  sides  of  the  meeting-house  was  drawn  toward  his 
singular  attitude.  At  length  the  young  men  raised  their  heads,  and  seeing 
how  many  eyes  were  upon  them,  grew  red  in  the  face,  ceased  their  game,  and 
hustled  away  their  cards. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  6 1 

US  leave  it  to  Deacon  Woodward."  To  this  all 
were  agreed,  and  his  decision  was  allowed  to  settle 
the  matter.  "  Who  of  us,"  said  Mr.  Bushnell,  who 
preached  his  funeral  sermon,  "  has  accomplished  so 
much  as  he?  Yet  who  of  us,  in  view  of  the  little 
we  may  have  done,  has  not  been  willing-  to  take 
more  of  the  glory  to  himself?  When  did  he  ever 
feel  injured  because  he  was  not  appreciated? 
When  did  he  ever  attempt  to  thrust  himself  for- 
ward? And  yet,  when  was  he  ever  absent  from 
any  meeting  without  being  missed  and  being  in- 
quired after?" 

So  prompt  and  so  methodical  was  he  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  duties,  that  when  death  came,  with 
onl}^  about  twelve  hours'  warning,  "  though  he  had 
a  great  amount  of  public  business  on  his  hands,  it 
can  scarcely  be  said  that  anything  was  left  un- 
finished." He  was  an  early  riser,  and  began  the 
day  with  secret  pra3'er  in  an  audible  voice;  a  peace- 
maker with  probabl}'  not  an  enemy;  an  unworldly 
man,  performing  much  public  service  with  great 
fidelit}'  and  for  small  remuneration;  a  benevolent 
man,  who,  according  to  his  means,  was  ready  in  a 
noiseless  way  to  help  the  poor  and  the  needy  and 
ever}^  good  cause;  and  yet  when  asked  how  he  felt 
in  view  of  death,  all  he  would  say  was,  "  I  have  a 
comfortable  hope."  At  his  funeral  the  meeting- 
house was  full.  People  came  from  every  part  of 
the  town  and  from  surrounding  towns,  and  the  pro- 
cession   of  those    who    walked    to  his  burial    was 


62  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

more  than  half  a  mile  long.  This  was  their  tribute 
to  the  goodness  of  a  man  in  whom  everybody  had 
confidence. 

Deacon  Jackson  was  the  champion  of  every 
righteous  and  good  cause,  whether  popular  or  un- 
popular. If  it  was  unpopular,  it  had  all  the  greater 
attraction  for  him,  because  it  needed  him  the  more. 
He  was  the  first  mover  in  the  temperance  cause  in 
this  town.  As  chairman  of  the  selectmen  it  was 
his  dut}^  to  approbate  persons  for  license  to  sell 
ardent  spirits.  This  approbation  included  a  state- 
ment that  these  persons  had  conformed  to  the  laws 
respecting  license.  Upon  examination  he  found 
that  they  were  living  in  daily  violation  of  those 
laws,  and  therefore  he  could  not  say  that  they  con- 
formed to  them.  Accordingly  no  licenses  were 
obtained,  and  a  storm  was  raised  about  the  ears 
of  the  selectmen  by  the  rum-sellers  and  rum- 
drinkers  that  compelled  them  to  defend  themselves 
in  the  newspapers.  The  temperance  question  was 
so  thoroughly  discussed  that  it  became  better  un- 
derstood in  Newton  than  in  any  other  town  in  the 
Commonwealth.  In  October,  1826,  the  year  that 
Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  delivered  his  six  lectures  on 
Intemperance,  Deacon  Jackson  invited  Captain 
Samuel  Hyde,  Increase  Sumner  Davis,  and  Seth 
Davis,  who  were  all  the  total  abstinence  men  he 
knew  in  the  town,  to  meet  at  his  house.  This 
meeting  led  to  the  formation  of  a  total  abstinence 
societ}^,  which  was  met  with  doubts,  sneers,  rebukes, 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  6^ 

and  condemnation  everywhere  and  from  ever3'bod3^ 
In  February,  1827,  Deacon  Jackson  delivered  a 
temperance  address.  It  was  his  first  public  ad- 
dress, and  probably  the  first  address  of  the  kind 
ever  delivered  in  Newton.  He  had  a  full  house, 
"  and,"  said  he,  "  the  whole  town  learned  that 
evening  that  we  were  not  to  be  sneered  out  of  our 
principles,  nor  browbeaten  into  silence;  and  that 
the  existence  of  a  temperance  society  in  Newton 
upon  total  abstinence  principles  was  a  fixed  fact." 
Meetings  were  held  once  a  month,  temperance 
literature  scattered  freel}',  a  library  established, 
and  in  less  than  a  year  and  a  half  a  majority  of 
the  voters  of  the  town  were  temperance  men,  and 
Deacon  Jackson  was  sent  as  Representative  to  the 
General  Court.  While  in  the  I^egislature  he  be- 
came convinced  that  Frcemasonr}^  was  one  of  the 
most  active  agencies  in  the  government  of  the 
State  and  of  the  Nation  in  the  distribution  of  political 
power,  and  in  the  decisions  of  courts  and  juries, 
and  that  three  out  of  four,  if  not  nine  out  of  ten,  of 
the  office-holders  were  Masons.  This  made  him  a 
decided  and  outspoken  anti-Mason,  and  as  such  he 
was  twice  elected  to  Cono-ress.  While  in  Conofress 
he  became  acquainted  with  the  usurpations  of  slave- 
holders in  the  government  of  the  nation,  and  this 
made  him  a  determined  anti-slavery  man.  When 
the  Liberty  party  was  formed  he  was  its  first  candi- 
date for  governor.  When  the  American  Missionar}^ 
Association   was    formed,  in  1846,  he  was  its    first 


64  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

president,  and  held  the  office  eight  years.  In  his 
last  sickness  he  said  to  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Lewis 
Tappan,  "-When  you  come  to  be  as  near  the  grave 
as  I  seem  to  be,  it  will  be  one  of  the  sweetest  con- 
solations to  you  to  reflect  on  all  you  have  done  for 
the  poor  and  oppressed."  "  It  is  well  to  have  the 
good  opinon  of  our  fellow-men,  but  it  must  not  be 
gained  at  the  expense  of  principle  or  b}'  refraining 
to  do  our  dut}^" 

In  1828  he  began  to  advocate  the  construction 
of  railroads.  For  sixteen  or  eighteen  years  no 
subject  engaged  so  much  of  his  attention,  or  oc- 
cupied so  much  of  his  time  as  this.  In  1829  he 
delivered  lectures  and  addresses  in  the  principal 
towns  of  the  State,  and  wrote  articles  for  the  news- 
papers of  Boston,  Springfield,  Northampton,  Haver- 
hill, and  Salem.  Many  of  his  friends,  he  said, 
considered  this  to  be  evidence  of  partial  derange- 
ment. In  May,  1831,  the  building  of  the  railroad 
from  Boston  to  Worcester  was  commenced,  and 
there  is  no  man  to  whom  the  public  is  more  in- 
debted than  to  him  for  the  railroad  facilities  of  the 
present  day. 

William  Jackson  was  a  leader  among  men  with- 
out trying  to  be,  and  perhaps  without  knowing  that 
he  was,  by  the  excellence  and  force  of  his  character, 
by  his  knowledge  of  men  and  of  affairs,  by  his 
quickness  and  sagacity,  by  the  depth  and  strength 
of  his  convictions,  by  his  loyalty  to  truth  and  duty, 
by  his  capacit}'  for  being  possessed  and  controlled 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  65 

by  the  conclusions  to  which  his  judgment  and  con- 
science conducted  him,  by  the  simplicity,  earnest- 
ness, and  public  spirit  with  which  he  urged  his 
views  upon  the  attention  of  others,  and  by  his 
enthusiastic  disregard  of  his  own  ease  and  time 
and  money,  if  public  interests  might  be  subserved, 
and  righteousness  maintained,  and  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  brought  nearer;  and  when  men  saw  in  him 
these  qualities  and  this  devotion  to  the  public  wel- 
fare, they  gave  him  their  confidence,  acknowledged 
his  leadership,  and  felt  safe  in  following  him. 

The  devotion  of  this  remarkable  man  to  public 
interests  was  never  allowed  to  interfere  with  his 
duties  to  his  church.  He  spent  a  great  amount  of 
time  and  money  in  promoting  its  welfare.  He  knew 
nothing  about  the  love  of  money  for  its  own  sake, 
or  for  luxury  and  displa}'.  He  accumulated  that 
he  might  give,  and  he  could  not  say  no  to  any 
person  or  cause  needing  aid.  He  attended  all  the 
meetings  of  the  church,  and  in  times  of  revival  its 
extra  meetings.  He  wrote  its  history,  as  contained 
in  Jackson's  "■  History  of  Newton."  In  1830  he 
proposed  and  paid  for  the  first  manual  the  church 
ever  had.  He  was  prominent  in  all  the  business 
meetings  of  the  church.  In  1828  he  drew  up  a 
report  on  the  case  of  certain  church  members  who 
often  left  their  own  meeting  to  go  to  other  meetings. 
He  insisted  upon  the  necessity  of  church  discipline, 
and  said:  "  The  stability,  the  life,  the  very  existence 
of  our   church,  under  God,  depends  upon   its   dis- 


66  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

cipline."  "  Those  of  our  church  who  leave  their 
own  meeting  on  the  Sabbath,  go,  some  of  them,  to 
places  where  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  gospel, 
as  embraced  by  this  church,  are  opposed  and  de- 
nied, where  they  who  preach  declare  there  is  no 
need  of  a  radical  change  of  heart,  that  Christ  did  not 
die  to  atone  for  our  sins,  and  that  he  is  not  God, 
and  that  all  will  be  saved,  both  righteous  and 
wicked.  Such  preaching,  your  committee  think, 
tends  to  imdermine  and  destroy  the  church,  and, 
compared  with  those  views  of  Bible  truth  which 
all  our  members  have  embraced  and  publicl}'  pro- 
fessed to  believe,  such  preaching  is  error,  and  error 
of  the  most  fatal  kind,  not  only  to  the  church,  but 
to  the  eternal  welfare  of  souls  around  us." 

This  report  was  signed  by  William  Jackson, 
Elijah  F.  Woodward,  and  Asa  Cook.  After  a 
second  reading,  and  some  discussion,  the  report 
was  adopted  unanimously.  It  has  been  said  b}- 
some  that  if  Dr.  Homer  had  become  a  Unitarian, 
he  would  probably  have  carried  the  church  with 
him.     This  vote  does  not  look  as  if  he  would. 

While  Mr.  Bates  was  in  Newton  he  preached  a 
course  of  sermons  on  Household  Baptism,  which 
were  put  into  book  form  and  published. 

More  than  a  year  of  the  time  between  the  dis- 
mission of  Mr.  Bates  and  the  installation  of  his 
successor,  this  pulpit  was  supplied  by  Rev.  S.  S. 
Smith.  He  was  a  tall  man,  with  a  pleasant  face,  a 
vigorous  mind,  a  good  voice,  a  rapid  utterance,  and 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  67 

the  power  of  holding  the  attention  of  his  audience. 
Twent}'  persons  were  received  into  the  church  dur- 
ing his  ministry.  Mr.  Smith  died  very  suddenly. 
He  was  preparing  to  preach,  and  had  laid  out  his 
sermon  upon  the  table,  a  sermon  on  the  text  ''  I  shall 
be  satisfied  when  I  awake  in  thy  likeness."  But  the 
sermon  was  not  to  be  preached  by  him.  It  was 
most  appropriately  read  at  his  funeral,  and  we 
believe  he  did  awake  in  the  Saviour's  likeness. 

Rev.  William  Bushnell  was  installed  in  Ma}^ 
1842.  It  was  during  his  ministry  that  the  church 
sent  out  its  second  colon}'  of  thirty-four  members 
to  form  the  Eliot  Church.  Mr.  Bushnell  was  a 
clear  thinker,  a  sound  theologian,  argumentative  in 
his  style  of  preaching,  and  always  scriptural  and 
instructive.  He  strongl}-  deprecated  laxity  of  doc- 
trine, believing  that  it  tends  to  religious  demorali- 
zation and  a  paralysis  of  the  work  of  the  churches. 
He  published  sermons  commemorative  of  Deacon 
Elijah  F.  Woodward  and  Hon.  William  Jackson, 

When  my  own  ministry  began,  the  church  was 
small  and  weak.  The  loss  of  those  who  formed  the 
Eliot  Church,  among  whom  were  some  of  the  most 
active  and  efficient  of  our  members,  and  the  death, 
soon  after,  of  Deacon  Elijah  F.  Woodward,  had 
left  the  church,  for  a  time,  in  an  almost  discouraged 
state.  It  had  roused  itself,  however,  and  with  de- 
termined effort  and  much  personal  sacrifice  built 
a  new  meeting-house.  In  1854  we  enlarged  the 
meeting-house   and  built  a  new   chapel.     In   1868 


68  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

we  parted  with  nine  of  our  members,  to  help  form 
the  church  at  Newtonville.  In  1872  we  dismissed 
twent3'-four  more,  to  form  the  church  at  Newton 
Highlands.  In  1869  we  again  enlarged  both  the 
meeting-house  and  the  chapel,  at  a  cost  of  twenty- 
two  thousand  dollars.  The  effort  to  do  this  in- 
volved, on  the  part  of  individuals,  most  generous 
gifts  of  time  and  money.  Our  contributions  to 
benevolent  objects  between  1857  and  1882,  a  period 
of  twent3^-six  years,  amounted  to  sixty-two  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  twenty  dollars.  But  this 
includes  the  gifts  of  individuals,  so  far  as  they  were 
known,  and  the  donations  of  the  Ladies'  Benevolent 
Society,  in  boxes  of  clothing  sent  West  and  South. 
The  doctrinal  utterances  of  the  pulpit  during  my 
ministry  have  always,  I  believe,  been  in  harmony 
with  those  of  its  former  ministers  from  the  begin- 
ning. My  first  deacons  were  Luther  Paul  and  Asa 
Cook,  good  and  true  men.  Deacon  Cook  was  a 
man  who  gloried  in  the  cross  of  Christ.  He  re- 
joiced in  salvation  as  the  gift  of  God,  full  and  free, 
without  money  and  without  price,  to  every  penitent 
believer.  "  The  voice  of  free  grace  "  had  a  very 
sweet  sound  to  him.  He  was  gifted  in  prayer,  and 
whenever  he  came  to  the  topic  of  salvation  by 
grace,  it  was  interesting  to  see  how  much  at  home 
he  felt.  He  never  had  any  doubts  about  his  salva- 
tion. He  believed  the  promises  of  God,  and  his 
sky  was  always  bright. 

Deacon   Paul  had  intelligence,  sound  judgment, 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  69 

strong  will,  inflexible  decision,  and  the  courage  to 
stand  alone  if  others  did  not  agree  with  him.  He 
had  also  stern  and  uncompromising  integrity.  All 
his  traits  were  strongly  marked,  and  he  was  an  im- 
portant man  in  the  church.  He  took  a  deep  interest 
in  its  welfare,  was  present  at  all  its  meetings,  and  a 
valuable  helper  in  them,  bore  his  full  share  of  its 
expenses,  and  gave  his  money  S3^stematically  and 
generously  to  benevolent  objects.  He  represented 
the  law,  and  Deacon  Cook  the  gospel.  A  text  for 
Deacon  Cook  would  be,  ''  By  grace  are  ye  saved 
through  faith ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves ;  it  is  the  gift 
of  God."  A  Scripture  for  Deacon  Paul  would  be, 
"  Lord,  who  shall  abide  in  thy  tabernacle,  who  shall 
dwell  in  thy  holy  hill  ?  He  that  walketh  uprightly 
and  worketh  righteousness  and  speaketh  the  truth 
in  his  heart.  He  that  sweareth  to  his  own  hurt  and 
changeth  not." 

We  have  now  a  minister  who  is  not  only  sound 
in  the  faith,  but  who  has  a  special  gift  for  interest- 
ing the  young.  He  has  the  wisdom  to  lay  out  his 
strength  in  that  part  of  the  field  which  is  the  most 
hopeful,  and  the  interest  manifested  by  the  young 
in  the  services  of  religion  ever  since  he  came  among 
us  has  been  very  marked,  both  in  additions  to  the 
church  and  in  the  increased  attendance  upon  its 
prayer  meetings.  If  now,  through  his  influence 
with  the  young,  and  his  unwearied  labors  to  interest 
them  in  the  things  of  the  kingdom,  the}^  can  be  led 
to  prize  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Bible  as  Anna 


yo  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Hammond  Pope  did,  and  to  contend  tor  them  as 
William  Jackson  did;  if  we  can  see  not  only  the 
ministers,  but  the  members  of  the  church,  loving  the 
truth  and  defending  it  with  the  intelligence  which 
these  two  persons  had,  —  then  it  can  be  said  of  our 
church  for  a  long  time  to  come, 

"We  mark  her  goodly  battlements 
And  her  foundations  strong." 

We  have  no  means  of  knowing  the  number  of 
persons  received  into  our  church  b}'  its  first  four 
ministers.  We  know  of  two  revivals  in  Mr. 
Cotton's  ministry,  one  after  the  earthquake  of  1727, 
when  fifty  persons  were  received  in  four  months, 
and  one  in  1 741-2,  when  one  hundred  and  four 
were  received  in  ten  months.  There  may  have 
been  revivals  in  Mr.  Hobart's  ministry,  and  in  Mr. 
Eliot's;  if  so,  the  record  of  them  has  been  lost. 
Dr.  Homer,  as  sole  pastor  for  forty-five  years,  re- 
ceived two  hundred  and  fifty-seven.  He  and  Mr. 
Bates,  together,  received  in  eleven  and  a  half  years 
one  hundred  and  ninety-four.  Total,  four  hundred 
and  fifty-one.  Mr.  Bushnell  in  his  four  years  re- 
ceived seventeen.  In  my  own  ministry  of  thirty- 
five  years,  five  hundred  and  thirty-six  were  received, 
or  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  by  profession,  and 
two  hundred  and  eighty-two  by  letter.  Brother 
Holmes  has  received  in  the  six  years  of  his  ministry 
one  hundred  and  forty-one,  or  sixty-six  by  profes- 
sion, and  seventy-five  by  letter. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  7 1 

In  1823  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Hicks,  a  widow,  was 
received  into  the  church  at  the  house  of  her  son 
and  daughter,  in  the  ninety-eighth  year  of  her  age. 
About  twenty  members  of  the  church  went  to  the 
house  with  the  minister  and  received  the  Com- 
munion with  her.  Dr.  Homer  says  she  was  so 
much  affected  with  the  recollection  of  her  long 
neglect  of  Christ  as  to  produce  sensible  injur}'  to 
her  bodily  health. 

The  roll  of  church  membership  made  up  in  1773, 
after  the  fire,  is  needlessly  defective.  Apparently, 
it  contains  only  the  names  of  persons  then  living. 
If  these  persons  had  taken  pains  to  recall  and 
record  the  names  of  the  generation  that  preceded 
them,  they  would  have  done  us  a  great  favor.  It 
is  probable  that  several  hundred  names  of  persons 
who  were  once  members  of  our  church  are  irre- 
coverably lost.  Of  course  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  those  who  went  into  the  ministry  from  this 
town  were  members  of  this  church,  for  this  was 
the  only  church  in  the  town.  Their  names  were, 
Ichabod  Wiswall,  William  Williams,  Thomas 
Greenwood,  John  Prentice,  Caleb  Trowbridge, 
Edward  Jackson,  Joseph  Park,  Samuel  Woodward, 
Nathan  Ward,  Jonas  Clark,  and  Ephraim  Ward. 

Rev.  Ichabod  Wiswall,  son  of  our  ruling 
elder,  Thomas  Wiswall,  was  ordained  pastor  of 
the  church  in  Duxbury  in  1676,  where  he  minis- 
tered twenty-four  years,  until  his  death,  in  1700. 
In  1689  he  was  agent  in  England  for  obtaining  a 


72  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

new  charter  for  Plymouth  Colony  which  should 
prevent  the  union  of  that  colony  with  Massa- 
chusetts. Dr.  Increase  Mather  was  in  England  at 
the  same  time  seeking  a  new  charter  for  Massa- 
chusetts Plymouth  and  Maine  united,  in  which 
he  succeeded. 

Rev.  William  Williafiis  was  ordained  in  Hat- 
field in  1685,  and  fulfilled  in  that  one  place  a 
ministry  of  fifty-five  years.  His  funeral  sermon 
was  preached  by  Jonathan  Edwards,  who  spoke  of 
him  as  "  a  person  of  uncommon  natural  abilities  and 
distinguished  learning,  a  great  divine."  Solomon 
Stoddard  was  called  a  great  man,  but  Dr.  Chauncy 
said  he  regarded  Mr.  Williams  as  greater  than 
he.  This  man  was  the  son  of  the  third  deacon  of 
our  church.  Deacon  Isaac  Williams.^  He  had  three 
sons,  who  were  ministers,  and  a  daughter,  who  was 
married  to  Rev.  Jonathan  Ashley,  of  Deerfield. 
One  of  his  sons.  Dr.  Solomon  Williams,  of  Leba- 
non, Conn.,  was  the  minister  of  that  place  fifty- 
three  years,  and  was  one  of  the  most  prominent 
of  the  New  England  clergy.  He  had  a  controversy 
with  Jonathan  Edwards,  who  was  his  cousin,  on 
the  terms  of  communion.  Another  son  was  Elisha 
Williams,  rector  of  Yale  College.  During  a  pro- 
longed sojourn  in  England  he  became  intimately 
acquainted  with  Dr.  Doddridge,  who  said  of  him, 

'  Deacon  Isaac  Williams  represented  Newton  in  the  General  Court  five  or 
six  years.  His  mother  was  Martha  Park,  daughter  of  Deacon  William  Park, 
of  Roxbury,  who  came  to  "  Cambridge  Village  "  to  live  in  1660. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  73 

"  I  look  upon  him  to  be  one  of  the  most  v^aluable 
men  upon  earth.  He  has  joined  to  an  ardent  sense 
of  religion  solid  learning,  consummate  prudence, 
great  candor  and  sweetness  of  temper,  and  a  certain 
nobleness  of  soul,  capable  of  contriving  and  acting 
the  greatest  things  without  seeming  to  be  conscious 
of  having  done  them."  The  third  son  was  Rev. 
William  Williams,  of  Weston.  He  preached  in 
this  place  at  the  time  of  the  revival,  in  1741,  on  an 
exchange  with  Mr.  Cotton.  The  mother  of  these 
last  two  sons,  Elisha  and  William,  was  grand- 
daughter of  Rev.  John  Cotton,  of  Boston. 

Dr.  Solomon  Williams,  of  Lebanon,  had  a  son, 
Eliphalet,  who  was  the  minister  of  East  Hartford, 
Conn.,  fifty  years;  an  eminent  man,  whose  son 
Solomon  was  a  minister  in  Northampton,  and 
whose  son  Elisha  was  a  Baptist  minister  in 
Beverly.^ 

One  of  the  daughters  of  Rev.  William  Williams, 
of  Weston,  was  married  to  Rev.  Joseph  Buck- 
minster,  of  Rutland,  and  was  the  mother  of  Dr. 
Joseph  Buckminster,  who  was  Daniel  Webster's 
minister  in  Portsmouth,  N.H.,  and  the  grand- 
mother of  Joseph  Stephens  Buckminster,  the  elo- 

'  Dr.  Solomon  Williams,  of  Lebanon,  had  a  son,  William,  who  was  a  Revo- 
lutionary patriot  and  Christian.  He  was  on  the  staff  of  Col.  Ephraim  Williams 
at  the  battle  of  Lake  George,  in  1755.  In  1776  and  1777  he  was  a  member 
of  Congress,  and  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  His  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  Governor  Trumbull.  After  making  great  efforts  and  sacrifices  for 
the  liberties  of  his  country,  for  which  he  expended  nearly  all  his  property,  his 
last  days  were  spent  in  reading,  meditation,  and  prayer.  From  youth  to  old 
age  he  was  a  deacon  in  the  church,  and  an  exemplary  Christian. 


74  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

quent  and  scholarly  minister  of  Brattle  Street 
Church,  Boston. 

Rev.  Mr.  Williams,  of  Hatfield,  had  a  nephew, 
William,  one  of  whose  daughters  was  married  to 
Rev.  Jacob  Gushing,  of  Waltham,  and  another  to 
Rev.  Samuel  Woodward,  of  Weston,  who  went 
from  this  town,  and  was  a  member  of  this  church. 

Rev.  Thomas  Greenwood  was  ordained  at  Reho- 
both  in  1693,  and  died  in  1720.  His  son  John 
succeeded  him  in  1721,  and  died  in  1766.  Allen 
says  that  Mr.  Greenwood  was  born  in  Plymouth. 
Bliss's  "  History  of  Rehoboth"  says  that  he  was  born 
in  Weymouth.  Allen  and  Bliss  give  merely  a  bare 
statement  without  any  corroborating  particulars, 
and  they  do  not  agree  with  each  other.  Jackson's 
"  History  of  Newton"  gives  the  names  of  Mr.  Green- 
wood's father  and  mother,  the  situation  of  their  real 
estate  in  this  place,  the  time  of  the  birth  of  their 
son  Thomas,  and  the  name  of  his  wife,  who  was 
daughter  of  Capt.  Noah  Wiswall,  the  son  of  our 
only  ruling  elder. 

Rev.  John  Prentice,  ordained  in  1708,  had  a 
successful  ministry  of  forty  years  in  Lancaster. 
The  late  Rev.  A.  P.  Marvin,  historian  of  the  town 
of  Lancaster,  says  he  was  an  honor  to  his  native 
town.  From  two  or  three  to  ten  or  fifteen  persons 
were  received  into  his  church  ever}^  year  —  three 
hundred  and  thirt}^  in  all.  He  had  great  dignity 
and  severity  of  manners.  One  of  his  daughters 
was  married  to   Rev.  Job  Gushing,  of  Shrewsbury, 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  75 

another  to  Rev.  John  Rogers,  of  Leominster,  and 
another  to  Rev.  John  Mellen,  of  Lancaster. 

Rev.  Caleb  Trowbridge  was  ordained  in  Groton 
in  1 7 15,  and  was  the  minister  of  that  place  forty-six 
years.  He  is  spoken  of  by  the  Groton  people  as 
faithful  and  beloved,  an  ornament  and  a  blessing  in 
the  several  relations  which  he  sustained.  He  was 
the  son  of  our  deacon,  James  Trowbridge,  and  the 
grandson,  on  his  mother's  side,  of  our  deacon,  John 
Jackson.  He  married  the  daughter  of  our  deacon, 
Thomas  Oliver. 

Rev.  Edward  Jackson  was  ordained  in  1729  at 
Woburn.  The  cost  of  the  cider,  wine,  rum,  and 
brandy  used  at  his  ordination  was  sixteen  or  seven- 
teen pounds,  equal  to  eighty  or  eighty-live  dollars. 
He  was  the  son  ot  our  deacon,  Edward  Jackson, 
and  grandson  of  Edward  Jackson,  senior,  at 
whose  house,  near  the  line  between  Newton  and 
Brighton,  the  first  religious  meetings  in  "  Cam- 
bridge Village  "  were  held.  Edward  Jackson, 
senior,  is  the  man  who  used  to  accompany  the 
Apostle  Eliot  in  his  visits  to  the  Nonantum  Indians 
to  take  notes  of  their  questions  and  of  Mr.  Eliot's 
answers.  The  Woburn  minister  was  for  a  long- 
time  the  victim  of  false  and  malignant  accusation. 
His  accusers  were  encouraged  in  their  attempts  to 
injure  him  by  the  fact  that  he  was  unmarried.  The 
case  was  brought  into  court,  and  went  against  him. 
At  length,  in  the  providence  of  God,  an  occurrence, 
apparently  the  most  accidental  and  trifling,  came  to 


76  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

his  help.  The  negro  servant  of  his  chief  traducer 
called  on  his  own  negro  boy  with  a  letter  in  his 
hand  to  ask  where  a  certain  woman  lived.  The 
boy  took  the  letter  in  to  his  master  to  inquire 
of  him.  Mr.  Jackson  opened  the  letter,  read  it, 
copied  it,  kept  the  original,  and  gave  the  copy  to 
the  negro,  with  directions  where  to  tind  the  woman. 
He  then  called  the  case  again  into  court,  where 
his  maligner  was  made  to  face,  in  his  own  hand- 
writing, all  the  evidence  that  Mr.  Jackson  wanted 
of  the  falsehood  and  malignity  that  had  been 
pursuing  him.  The  scene  that  followed  can  be 
imagined.  The  court  was  confounded;  the  per- 
secutor was  humiliated  and  disgraced;  those  who 
for  some  reason  had  sided  with  him  were  in  tears 
to  find  what  tools  and  fools  they  had  been,  and  the 
suffering  minister's  righteousness  was  brought  forth 
as  the  light,  and  his  judgment  as  the  noonday.  But 
his  health  was  gone ;  he  lived  only  six  or  eight 
months  after  this  triumphant  vindication,  and  died 
before  he  was  fifty-five  years  old. 

Rev.  Joseph  Park.,  great-grandson  of  Richard 
Park,  one  of  the  first  settlers  and  first  members  of 
this  church,  was,  in  1733,  sent  to  Westerly,  R.I., 
"  as  a  missionary  to  the  Indians,  and  such  English 
as  would  attend."  ''  I  was  then,"  says  Mr.  Park, 
"  a  moral,  religious  person,  but  awfully  in  the  dark 
as  to  the  way  of  salvation."  This  was  the  condition 
of  many  ministers  and  church  members  in  New 
England  previous  to  the  Great  Awakening,  in  1740. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  77 

"  There  was  not  one  house  of  pra3'er,"  said  Mr. 
Park,  "  as  far  as  I  ever  learned,  in  two  large  towns 
containing  some  hundreds  of  families."  Whitefield 
and  Gilbert  Tennant  visited  the  place,  and  preached 
there,  and  powerful  effects  were  produced.  ''  The 
minister  was  strengthened  and  lifted  up,  and  his 
views  became  more  evano-elical.*"  He  labored  on 
with  fidelity  and  much  acceptance,  but  in  the  face 
of  many  discouragements,  until  175 1,  when  he 
became  pastor  of  a  church  in  Southold,  L.I.  In 
1756  he  returned  to  Westerly,  and  was  reinstalled. 
For  receiving  to  his  house  a  poor  woman  who  had 
been  driven  from  a  house  infected  with  small- 
pox, he  was  arraigned,  tried,  and  condemned.  He 
preached  a  sermon,  which  was  published,  in  which 
he  justified  his  humanity  and  blamed  the  town  for 
its  severity. 

It  is  well  known  that,  previous  to  the  Great 
Awakening,  many  of  the  churches  of  New  England 
were  grievousl}'  infected  with  the  sin  of  impurity. 
The  preaching  of  Edwards  against  this  sin  was 
one  of  the  reasons  for  his  being  dismissed  from 
his  church  in  Northampton.  In  Westerly,  family 
covenants  were  drawn  up  to  be  signed  by  father, 
mother,  children,  and  domestics  in  every  house- 
hold, solemnly  promising  to  put  away  all  filthiness 
of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  and  to  perfect  holiness  in  the 
fear  of  God. 

On  the  Lord's  day  a  part  of  the  service  of  public 
worship  was  hearing  the   children   read   the  Bible 


78  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

and  repeat  the  Catechism,  followed  by  a  collection 
for  "  pious  uses."  What  was  this  but  a  Sunday- 
school,  nearly  thirty  3'ears  before  the  experiment 
of  Robert  Raikes  in  England,  and  a  Sunday-school 
in  presence  of  the  whole  congregation. 

Mr.  Park  was  a  man  of  public  spirit.  Three  of 
his  sons  were  in  the  expedition  for  the  reduction  of 
Crown  Point,  and  one  of  them  fought  and  fell  with 
General  Warren  on  Bunker  Hill.  "  The  good, 
laborious,  tried,  faithful  man  died  with  much  honor 
in  Westerly  in  1777,  in  the  sevent3"-second  year  of 
his  age,  and  the  forty-fifth  3^ear  of  his  ministry.'' 

Rev.  Samuel  Woodward  was  ordained  in  175 1 
as  pastor  of  the  church  in  Weston,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  exercise  his  ministry  thirty-one  years. 
He  was  here  at  the  ordination  of  Dr.  Homer  in  1782, 
was  moderator  of  the  council,  and  gave  the  charge. 
He  died  the  same  year  "  greatly  beloved  and  la- 
mented by  the  people  of  his  charge,  by  his  brethren 
in  office,  and  by  an  extensive  circle  of  acquaint- 
ances."    He  published  several  sermons. 

Rev.  Nathan  Ward,  being  much  impressed  by  the 
preaching  of  Whitefield,  entered  the  ministry  with- 
out a  college  education,  at  the  age  of  forty-four, 
and  was  settled  in  Ph'mouth,  N.H.,  in  1765,  where 
he  preached  about  thirt}'  years.  His  mother  was 
a  Kenrick.  He  is  remembered  in  Pl}'mouth  as  a 
man  of  superior  natural  endowments.  He  had  im- 
bibed much  of  the  spirit  of  Whitefield,  and  was 
eminent  for  piety,  zeal,  and   an  earnest  inculcation 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  79 

of  the  doctrines  of  grace.  An  incredible  story  is 
told  about  the  strength  of  his  voice.  A  famil}^ 
living  more  than  a  mile  from  his  meeting-house 
said  they  could  remain  at  home  and  hear  the 
sermon.  Jonathan  Ward,  his  son,  a  man  of  ability 
and  piety,  succeeded  him,  and  preached  the  strong 
doctrines  of  the  Bible  with  the  utmost  plainness. 
Rev.  James  W.  Ward,  of  Abingtbn,  was  his  son. 
Rev.  William  Hayes  Ward,  D.D.,  one  of  the  editors 
of  "  The  Independent,"  is  his  son.  Here  are  four 
generations  of  Wards  who  have  been  ministers  of 
the  Gospel,  beginning  with  Nathan  Ward,  who 
went  from  this  church  to  Pl3^mouth,  N.H.,  in  1765. 
It  is  also  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Herbert  Ward,  son  of 
Dr.  William  H.  Ward  and  husband  of  Elizabeth 
Stuart  Phelps  Ward,  to  enter  the  ministry. 

Rev.  Jonas  Clark  was  ordained  in  Lexington 
in  17SS1  ^i"^cl  was  the  minister  of  that  place  for 
fifty  years.  His  sermons  were  filled  with  the  most 
interesting  truths  of  the  Gospel,  presented  with  un- 
common fidelity,  energy,  and  zeal.  He  wrote  upon 
an  average  fifty-six  sermons,  each  of  which  was  an 
hour  long,  every  year  for  fifty  years.  His  voice  in 
preaching  was  powerful  and  agreeable,  and  when 
excited  by  his  subject,  as  he  often  was,  it  could  be 
heard  far  beyond  the  walls  of  the  meeting-house. 
In  personal  appearance  he  was  dignified  and  com- 
manding. He  had  fine  social  qualities,  and  his 
society  was  enjoyed  by  old  and  young,  but  he 
never  laid  aside  the   dignity  of  a  clergyman. 


8o  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Mr.  Clark  was  an  industrious  and  hard-working 
farmer.  The  profits  of  his  farm  were  needed  for 
the  support  of  a  large  family,  and  for  the  main- 
tenance of  that  generous  hospitality  which  to  him 
was  both  a  duty  and  a  pleasure.  His  salar}-  was 
eighty  pounds  a  3^ear,  and  twenty  cords  of  wood. 
In  the  time  of  the  depreciation  of  the  currency,  he 
found  that  the  wood  was  worth  more  to  him  than 
the  money. 

Three  hundred  and  sixty-live  persons  were  added 
to  the  church  during  his  ministr3%  upon  the  pro- 
fession of  their  faith. 

This  minister  and  farmer  was  also  a  statesman. 
The  resolutions  and  instructions  given  to  the  Rep- 
resentatives of  Lexington,  from  time  to  time,  and 
still  to  be  found  upon  the  town  records,  are  his 
work.  Edward  Everett  said  of  them,  "  They  have 
few  equals  and  no  superiors  among  the  productions 
of  that  class."  With  Mr.  Clark  patriotism  was  a 
religious  obligation.  He  did  more,  perhaps,  than 
any  clergyman  in  his  vicinity  to  prepare  the  public 
mind  for  the  revolutionary  struggle.  His  career 
illustrates  the  remark  of  the  elder  President  Adams, 
that  "  American  independence  was  mainly  due  to 
the  clerg}'."  He  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Samuel 
Adams  and  John  Hancock,  who  often  visited  him. 
After  the  retreat  of  the  British,  on  the  memorable 
nineteenth  of  April,  1775,  he  visited  the  grounds 
in  front  of  the  meeting-house,  and  saw  eight  of  his 
beloved    parishioners    dead,  and    many    wounded. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  8 1 

On  the  previous  Sabbath  these  men  were  in  the 
pews  of  that  sanctuary,  to  learn  from  him  how  to 
make  patriotism  a  part  of  their  religion. 

Four  of  Mr.  Clark's  daughters  were  married  to 
clergymen,  one  of  them  to  Dr.  William  Harris, 
President  of  Columbia  College,  New  York,  and  one 
to  Rev.  Henry  Ware,  Hollis  Professor  of  Divinity 
in  Harvard  Colleg-e.  Mrs.  Ware  was  the  mother 
of  Rev.  William  Ware,  and  of  Rev.  Henry  Ware, 
Jr.,  the  minister  of  the  Second  Church  in  Boston, 
and  afterwards  Professor  of  Pulpit  Eloquence  and 
Pastoral  Care  in  the  Divinity  School  of  Harvard. 

Rev.  Ephraitn  Ward  was  ordained  in  177 1  in 
Brookfield.  He  was  the  son  of  our  deacon  Eph- 
raim  Ward,  and  was  baptized  here  in  his  infancy. 
His  ordination  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev. 
Jason  Haven,  of  Dedham,  a  brother  of  Mr.  Ward's 
mother.  One  of  Mr.  Ward's  predecessors  in 
Brookfield  was  Rev.  Thomas  Cheney,  whose  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Cotton,  the  third  pastor  of 
this  church.  In  1770  Mr.  Ward  supplied  the  pulpit 
of  the  Old  South  Church  in  Boston  six  Sabbaths. 
His  preaching  was  plain,  practical,  and  evangelical, 
and  he  saw  not  a  year  pass  awa}^  without  additions 
to  his  church.  In  the  forty-seven  years  of  his 
ministry  he  received  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  persons.  He  was  of  an  exceedingly  mild  and 
amiable  disposition,  and  by  his  great  kindness  and 
affability  he  won  the  affection  of  all  who  knew 
him.      He    had    a    peculiar    talent    for    cultivating 


82  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

peace.  The  sermon  which  was  preached  at  his 
funeral  says:  "The  harmon}^  of  the  church  and 
society,  under  his  ministry  for  so  long  a  period  and 
under  many  trying  circumstances,  is  probably  with- 
out a  parallel;"  and  then  adds,  "  3'e  are  witnesses, 
and  God  also,  how  holily,  justly,  and  unblamabl}^ 
he  behaved  himself  among  you  that  believe.  His 
example  is  remembered  almost  with  veneration." 

Near  the  close  of  Mr.  Ward's  ministry.  Rev. 
Eliakim  Phelps,  the  father  of  Professor  Austin 
Phelps,  D.D.,  of  Andover,  was  associated  with  him 
as  colleague.  Mr.  Phelps  introduced  new  measures, 
such  as  a  third  service  on  the  Sabbath,  a  Wednes- 
day evening  meeting,  and  the  missionary  concert. 
New  life  was  infused  into  the  church,  and  a  revival 
followed,  in  which  many  were  gathered  in.  Mr. 
Ward,  instead  of  being  jealous  of  these  changes,  as 
some  men  would  have  been,  was  pleased  with 
them,  and  rejoiced  in  the  saving  results  which  at- 
tended them.  A  letter  from  Professor  Phelps  says: 
"  My  father  used  to  speak  of  Mr.  Ward  as  a  model 
colleague.  This  is  the  more  to  Mr.  Ward's  credit, 
because  my  father,  though  one  of  the  most  genial 
of  men,  was  a  very  positive  believer,  and  he  liked 
to  have  his  own  way  as  well  as  most  men,  and 
withal  he  was  an  innovator.  He  thousfht  Mr. 
Ward's  amiable  qualities  led  him  to  a  less  pro- 
nounced hostility  to  the  Unitarian  defection  than 
the  times  demanded.  The  sundering;- of  old  ecclesi- 
astical   ties   and   attachments    was   painful   to  him. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  83 

This  opinion  is  to  be  estimated  in  connection  with 
the  fact  that  my  father's  sympathies  were  very 
uncompromising  with  the  ancient  faith.""  Mr. 
Ward  published  several  sermons. 

Rev.  Increase  Sumner  Davis,  who  joined  this 
church  in  1821,  is  a  remarkable  example  of  what 
can  be  done  by  an  uneducated  minister  when  his 
whole  heart  is  in  his  work.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
he  began  to  stud}^  for  the  ministr}-,  but  finding  that 
he  could  not  endure  a  sedentar}^  life  he  abandoned 
his  purpose.  At  the  time  of  the  revival  here  in 
the  fall  of  1826  and  in  1827,  he  spent  most  of  his 
time  in  visiting  from  house  to  house  and  in  attend- 
ing meetings.  In  1827  the  church  in  Brighton  was 
formed,  and  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  Brighton 
people  he  joined  them,  and  was  chosen  deacon. 
His  success  there  in  bringing  souls  to  Christ  led 
him  to  feel  that  he  must  enter  the  ministr}'.  He 
studied  for  a  time  with  Dr.  Homer,  but  study  was 
a  weariness  to  him,  and  he  wanted  to  be  in  active 
service.  Dr.  Homer  proposed  Dorchester,  N.H., 
as  a  good  missionary  held.  He  went  there  in 
November,  1827,  without  invitation  or  an}^  pros- 
pect of  pecuniary  remuneration,  and  began  visiting 
from  house  to  house  and  holding  meetings  in  the 
evenings.  A  work  of  grace  commenced  at  once, 
and  a  o-ood  number  were  converted.  In  a  few 
months  a  church  was  organized,  and  before  the 
year  was  out  a  meeting-house  was  built.  After 
about   three   years   he   began   to    divide   his   labors 


84  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

between  the  Dorchester  church  and  a  church 
which  he  had  helped  to  form  in  the  adjoining  town 
of  Wentworth.  In  Wentworth  a  revival  soon 
began,  which  continued  two  years,  in  which  about 
one  hundred  souls  were  hopefully  converted,  and 
sixty  were  added  to  the  church.  Two  other  re- 
vivals followed  this,  in  which  thirty  or  forty  more 
were  received.  After  1840  his  labors  for  sixteen 
years  were  divided  between  Wentworth  and  Pier- 
mont,  places  twelve  miles  apart.  In  Piermont  he 
saw  three  revivals,  in  which  one  hundred  and  forty- 
one  were  added  to  the  church.  In  i860,  at  the 
earnest  request  of  his  two  sons,  he  left  New  Eng- 
land for  the  south-western  part  of  Iowa,  where  he 
continued  his  ministerial  labors  four  or  five  years, 
until  his  death,  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Davis  was  a  man  of  great  physical  strength, 
activity,  and  power  of  endurance.  He  could  take 
a  walk  of  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  before  breakfast 
over  the  high  hills  of  New  Hampshire,  and  call  it 
pleasant  exercise.  When  his  preaching  places 
were  distant  he  went  to  them  on  foot.  On  one  ol 
his  walks,  in  Piermont,  he  met  a  man  who  had  been 
drinking,  and  who  came  up  to  him  and  challenged 
him  to  a  trial  of  strength.  Mr.  Davis  tried  to  avoid 
him,  but  the  man  persisted.  "  Let  me  alone,"  said 
Mr.  Davis,  "  or  you  will  find  that  you  have  caught 
a  full-2:rown  man."  But  the  man  would  not  let 
him  alone,  and  the  result  was  that  he  was  soon 
lying    on    his    back    in    the    snow    with    his    head 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  85 

plunged  into  a  snow-bank,  where  he  was  held  till 
he  promised  to  be  peaceable,  and  begged  to  be 
released.  On  being  suffered  to  get  up,  he  wiped 
the  snow  from  his  face  and  muttered,  "  You  are  a 
full-grown  man,  anyway." 

In  Iowa,  when  far  advanced  in  life,  it  was  a 
common  thing  for  him  to  walk  a  dozen  miles  to 
preach,  and  he  never  failed  on  account  of  stormy 
weather.  To  visit  the  sick  or  attend  funerals  he 
frequently  walked  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles.  An 
Iowa  paper  in  1863  said:  ''  Father  Davis  was  at  the 
General  Conference  at  Des  Moines,  having  come 
on  foot  a  distance  of  eighty  miles,  and  expected  to 
return  in  the  same  manner." 

Mr.  Davis's  sermons  were  not  written,  and  they 
had  not  the  variety  which  we  expect  from  a  man 
of  more  education;  but  he  had  deep  piety,  great 
earnestness,  a  strong  will,  natural  fluency  of  speech, 
a  remarkable  gift  in  prayer,  and  the  power  of 
securing  the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  who 
knew  him.  His  preaching  was  a  proclamation,  in 
the  plainest  and  most  pungent  manner,  of  the  great 
doctrines  and  duties  of  revelation,  and  his  aim  was 
to  save  those  who  heard  him.  He  was  the  means 
of  the  salvation  of  hundreds  of  souls. 

After  his  death  a  commemorative  discourse  was 
preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  Silas  McKean,  of  Bradford, 
Vt.,  in  the  churches  of  Wentworth  and  Piermont, 
at  the  request  of  Mr.  Davis's  friends  in  those  towns, 
and  by  appointment,   and    in   the   presence  of  the 


86  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Orange  Association.     From  that  discourse  most  of 
the  facts  which  I  have  given  were  gathered. 

Rev.  James  M.  Bacon  joined  this  church  in 
1833.  He  had  a  yearning  desire  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  but  had  not  health  to  pursue  a  college 
course.  After  three  3'ears  at  Andover  Academy, 
and  as  many  with  Rev.  Dr.  Ide,  of  Medway,  he 
began  his  ministry  in  Littleton,  and  continued  it  in 
Amesbury,  Essex,  and  Ashby.  He  was  always  in 
feeble  health,  but  it  filled  him  with  joy  that  he 
could  preach  the  Gospel  at  all.  There  was  no 
feebleness  in  his  preaching.  The  warmth  of  his 
spirit  aroused  his  energies  of  body  and  mind,  and 
his  preaching  was  with  power.  One  man,  not 
evangelical  in  sentiment,  said  he  would  go  a  mile 
to  hear  Mr.  Bacon  pray.  He  was  a  man  of  deep 
and  earnest  piety,  an  ardent  temperament,  an  affec- 
tionate nature,  and  an  unswerving  loyalty  to  Christ 
and  his  truth.  He  took  a  deep  interest  in  the 
young,  and  was  always  on  the  watch  for  young 
men  fit  to  enter  the  ministry.  Four  men  are  in  the 
ministry  now  as  the  result  in  part,  at  least,  of  his 
influence:  Rev.  Edward  Norton,  Rev.  George 
Hardy,  Rev.  Dr.  David  O.  Mears,  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Michael  Burnham.^ 

'  The  memory  of  Mr.  Bacon  is  most  affectionately  cherished  by  these 
ministers.  "  I  shall  never  forget,"  says  one  of  them,  now  pastor  of  a  large 
church,  "  an  evening  in  Mr.  Bacon's  study  during  the  revival  of  1858,  his  wise 
counsels,  his  prayer,  and  the  dawning  of  light  in  my  soul.  I  became  very  much 
attached  to  him,  and  think  he  loved  me  as  his  own  son.  For  more  than  a  year 
he  never  ceased  to  urge  me  to  turn  my  mind  toward  the  ministry.     I  was  poor, 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  87 

Mr.  Bacon  was  one  of  the  truest  of  patriots. 
He  abhorred  slavery,  and  taught  his  people  to 
abhor  it.  During  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  the 
patriotism  of  his  people  was  animated  by  his 
glowing  words.  There  was  never  a  flag-raising 
without  a  speech  from  him.  Patriotic  processions 
stopped  at  his  door  for  words  of  cheer,  and  when 
the  Lord's  day  came  he  sent  their  thoughts  up  to 
the  hills  from  whence  cometh  help. 

The  people  for  whom  he  wore  out  his  life  will 
not  forget  his  meekness  and  humility,  his  sincerity 
and  truth,  the  devotion  in  which  he  never  spared 
himself,  his  fervent,  importunate  prayers,  or  his 
enthusiastic  labors.  His  Essex  people  were  blessed 
with  a  powerful  revival  in  1858,  in  which  about  fifty 
persons  were  added  to  the  church. 

Rev.  Edward  P.  Kingsbury  united  with  this 
church  in  1858.  Desiring  to  serve  his  country  in 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  he  enlisted  and  went  into 
camp.  The  officers  of  his  regiment  seeing  the 
state  of  his  health  dissuaded  him  from  his  purpose, 

and  how  could  I  do  it?  I  was  proud  and  did  not  want  to  be  helped.  But 
Mr.  Bacon  had  a  brother,  Mr.  Joseph  N.  Bacon,  who  had  means  and  a  very 
gracious  way  of  helping  young  men.  The  interest  he  took  in  me  was  like  that 
of  a  father.  He  promised  to  stand  by  me  all  through  my  course  of  preparation . 
So  heartily  was  this  done  that  I  did  not  dare  say  no,  God  had  so  signally 
opened  the  way  for  me.  Dear,  generous  friend,  how  much  I  owe  to  him !  " 
This  brother  of  Mr.  Bacon  was  a  member  of  this  church,  having  joined  it  in 
1832. 

Another  of  these  ministers,  pastor  of  a  large  church,  says  :  "  A  brighter  light 
than  that  of  the  sun  seems  to  shine  upon  the  Essex  meeting-house  when  I 
think  of  the  labors  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bacon." 


88  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

and  he  sorrowfully  returned  home.  A  few  years 
later  he  turned  his  thoughts  toward  the  ministry. 
After  a  course  of  study  at  Bangor  Theological 
Seminar}^,  he  was  settled  at  Dunstable  in  Novem- 
ber, 1869,  closed  his  labors  there  in  March,  187 1, 
and  died  in  two  weeks  from  that  time.  His  people 
in  Dunstable  say  that  a  marked  degree  of  interest 
attended  his  labors  there,  and  that  he  was  beloved 
by  all.  From  infancy  he  had  breathed  the  atmos- 
phere of  piety  in  his  father's  house;  he  came  early 
into  the  church,  and  was,  to  the  close  of  his  brief 
life,  a  faithful  follower  of  Him  who  said,  "  I  must 
work  the  works  of  Him  that  sent  me,  while  it  is 
day." 

Rev.  Calvin  Park^  D.D.,  professor  in  Brown 
University,  and  father  of  Professor  Park,  was  bap- 
tized by  Dr.  Homer  in  1782.  His  brother,  Thomas 
Park,  LL.D.,  professor  in  Columbia  College,  S.C., 
was  baptized  at  the  same  time. 

General  Williatn  Hull^  who  joined  this  church 
in  1783,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  was  grandfather  of  the 
late  Rev.  James  Freeman  Clarke,  D.D.,  of  Boston. 

A  good  number  of  the  members  of  this  church 
have  been  ministers'  wives. 

Sarah  Eliot  of  Windsor,  Conn.,  granddaughter 
of  the  first  minister  of  our  church,  was  married  to 
Rev.  Joshua  Eaton  of  Spencer,  Mass.,  and  was 
great-grandmother  to  Henry  C.  Bowen,  Esq.,  the 
present  proprietor  of  "  The   Independent." 

Mary  Hobart,  third  daughter  of  Rev.  Nehemiah 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  89 

Hobart,  was  married  to  Rev.  Eleazer  Williams,  of 
Mansfield,  Conn.,  son  of  Rev.  John  Williams,  ""  the 
redeemed  captive."  Her  daughter  Sarah  was 
married  to  Rev.  Hobart  Estabrook.  Her  daugh- 
ter Mary  was  married  to  Rev.  Dr.  Richard  Salter, 
of  Mansfield.  Her  granddaughter  Eunice  Conant 
was  married  to  Rev.  John  Storrs,  of  Southold, 
L.I.,  and  was  the  mother  of  Rev.  Richard  Salter 
Storrs,  of  Longmeadow,  who  was  the  father  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Storrs,  of  Braintree,  and  the  grand- 
father of  Rev.  Dr.   Storrs,  of  Brooklyn,  N.Y.^ 

Abigail  Hobart^  fourth  daughter  of  Rev. 
Nehemiah  Hobart,  was  married  to  Rev.  John 
Fisk,  of  Killingly,  Conn.  Her  daughter  Elizabeth 
was  married  to  Rev.  Joseph  Torrey,  of  Kensing- 
ton, R.I.,  and  from  her  daughter  Hannah  are 
descended  Judge  Robert  R.  Bishop,  of  this  church, 
and  the  late  Dr.  Joseph  Torrey,  President  of  the 
University  of  Vermont."' 


'  Jackson's  History  gives  the  name  of  Eleazer  Williams,  of  Newton,  as 
the  husband  of  Mary  Hobart,  and  says  that  he  removed  to  Mansfield,  Conn. 
This  is  evidently  an  error.  Not  only  do  Sprague  and  Allen  and  Hon.  George 
Sheldon  the  historian  of  Deerfield  say  that  Mary  Hobart  was  married  to 
Rev.  Eleazer,  son  of  Rev.  John,  of  Deerfield,  but  the  town  records  of  Mans- 
field, where  Mr.  Williams  lived  from  1710  to  1742,  say  that  "Rev.  Eleazer 
Williams  and  Mary  Hobart,  daughter  of  Rev.  Nehemiah  Hobart,  of  Newton, 
Mass.,  were  married  July  4,  1711."  Besides  this,  the  town  records  of  Mans- 
field do  not  show  the  name  of  any  other  Eleazer  Williams  than  the  minister  of 
the  place,  nor  do  the  church  records. 

*  The  late  Dr.  Henry  J.  Ripley,  professor  in  the  Theological  Institution  in 
this  place,  one  of  the  most  saintly  of  men,  said  that  the  Hobarts  and  Ripleys 
were  living  in  Hingham  after  1638,  and  intermarried;  that  the  name  of 
Hobart  had  been  held  in  honor  by  the  Ripley  family  down  to  the  present  day, 
his  youngest  sister  having  received  it  as  her  middle  name. 


90  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Mary  Cotton,  Anna  Cotton,  and  Martha  Cotton, 
daughters  of  the  third  minister  of  our  church,  were 
married,  the  first  to  Rev.  Thomas  Cheney,  of 
Brookfield,  the  second  to  Rev.  Samuel  Cook,  of 
Cambridge,  and  the  third  was  the  mother  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Nathaniel  Thayer,  of  Lancaster,  and  the  grand- 
mother of  Nathaniel  Thayer,  a  munificent  patron 
of  Harvard  College. 

Abigail  Williams,  Elisabeth  Williams,  and 
Judith  Williams,  half-sisters  of  Col.  Ephraim 
Williams,  the  founder  of  Williams  College,  and 
granddaughters  of  our  deacon  Isaac  Williams,  were 
married  to  ministers:  Judith  to  Rev.  Ezra  Thayer, 
of  Ware  River,  Elisabeth  to  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen 
West,  of  Stockbridge,  and  Abigail  to  Rev.  John 
Sergeant,  the  devoted  missionary  to  the  Housa- 
tonic  Indians.  Dr.  West  preached  more  than 
sixty  years  in  one  place  to  an  audience  of  un- 
common intelligence.  He  was  intimate  with 
Hopkins,  Bellamy,  Spring,  and  Emmons.  Mrs. 
Sergeant  had  a  son  who  carried  on  the  missionary 
work  of  his  father  for  sixty  years.  She  had  a 
daughter  who  was  married  to  Col.  Mark  Hopkins, 
and  who  was  grandmother  of  Dr.  Mark  Hopkins, 
the  late  President  of  Williams  College,  and  of 
Professor  Albert  Hopkins.  Mrs.  Sergeant,  after 
the  death  of  her  husband,  was  married  to  Gen. 
Joseph  Dwight,  and  had  a  daughter  who  became 
the  wife  of  Hon.  Theodore  Sedgwick,  judge  of 
the     Supreme    Court    of   Massachusetts,    and    the 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  9I 

mother  of  Miss  Catherine  Maria  Sedgwick.  Mrs. 
Dwight  was  a  woman  of  fine  talents  and  acquire- 
ments, of  dignified  manners,  and  of  elevated  Chris- 
tian character.  When  teaching  Indian  girls  she 
corresponded  extensively  with  persons  eminent  for 
learning  and  piety  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.^ 

Other  of  the  descendants  of  Deacon  Isaac  Wil- 
liams are  Mrs.  Professor  B.  B.  Edwards,  of 
Andover,  Mrs.  E.  W.  Blatchford,  wife  of  the  Vice- 
President  of  our  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  and 
Mrs.  E.  S.  Mead,  President  of  Mount  Holyoke 
Seminary  and  College. 

The  Williams  family  is  like  a  vine  that  sends 
out  its  branches  in  every  direction,  thick  with 
clusters,  and  the  quality  of  many  of  the  clusters  is 
like  that  of  the  grapes  of  Eshcol. 

Mrs.  Anna  Hammond  Pope,  already  mentioned, 
was  orreat-grrandmother  to  Rev.  Charles  W.  Park, 
missionary  to  India,  and  nephew  of  Professor 
Park.  Her  daughter  married  Rev.  Roswell  Shurt- 
leff,  D.D.,  professor  in  Dartmouth  College. 

Eliza   Thayer.,  who  joined  the  church  in   1816, 

'  A  friendship  existed  between  Madame  Dwight  and  the  family  of  Mr. 
John  Morton,  a  New  York  merchant  whose  daughter,  Miss  Eliza  Susan 
Morton,  becam.e  the  wife  of  President  Josiah  Quincy.  Miss  Morton  wrote 
the  following  account  of  the  personal  appearance  of  this  excellent  lady: 
"When  Madame  Dwight  visited  New  York  in  1786,  she  was  between  sixty 
and  seventy  years  of  age;  tall,  straight,  composed,  and  rather  formal  and 
precise,  yet  so  benevolent  and  pleasing  that  every  one  loved  her.  Her  dress 
was  always  very  handsome,  generally  dark-colored  silk.  She  always  wore  a 
watch,  which  in  those  days  was  a  distinction.  Her  head-dress  was  a  high  cap 
with  plaited  borders,  tied  under  the  chin.  Everything  about  her  distinguished 
her  as  a  gentlewoman,  and  inspired  respect  and  commanded  attention." 


92  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

was  the  wife  of  Rev.  Marshall  Shedd,  of  Acton, 
and  the  mother  of  Professor  William  G.  T.  Shedd, 
D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  New  York.  Professor  Shedd 
says,  "■  My  mother  died  when  I  was  twelve  years 
old.  The  impress  which  she  made  upon  me  in 
those  twelve  years  was  greater  than  that  made  by 
any  other  human  being,  or  than  all  other  human 
beings  collectively." 

Nancy  Cook,  sister  of  Deacon  Asa  Cook,  was 
the  wife  of  Rev.  Increase   Sumner  Davis. 

Marian  Jackson^  daughter  of  Deacon  William 
Jackson,  was  the  wife  of  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman  Gilbert, 
a  brilliant  and  accomplished  woman  and  a  most 
efficient  helper  to  her  husband  in  church  and 
parish,  a  woman  of  more  than  ordinary  strength 
of  character.  Her  older  sister,  a  woman  of  un- 
common depth  of  intellect  and  piety,  one  who 
knew  the  secret  of  abiding  peace  with  God, 
was  the  wife,  first,  of  Mayor  Davis,  of  Boston, 
brother  of  Rev.  Increase  S.  Davis,  and  afterward 
of  Lewis  Tappan,  Esq.,  an  eminent  leader  in 
the  abolition  movement.  She  joined  this  church 
in   1822. 

Mrs.  Maria  Woodward  Bacon,  wife  of  Rev. 
James  M.  Bacon,  joined  this  church  in  1832,  at 
the  age  of  eleven.  The  faith  that  was  in  her,  like 
that  of  Timothy,  dwelt  first  in  her  ancestors.  The 
house  in  which  she  was  born  had  been  the  home 
of  the  Woodward  family  through  five  generations. 
Her  father  was  deacon  in  this  church,  as  her  grand- 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  93 

father  had  been,  and  her  great-grandfather.  More 
than  one  hundred  and  lifty  years  old  was  that 
ancestral  family  altar  at  which  in  childhood  she 
was  taught  to  worship.  After  she  had  joined 
the  church  she  started  a  girls'  pra3^er  meeting  at 
her  father's  house.  As  soon  as  she  was  old  enough 
she  took  a  class  in  the  Sunda3^-school,  upon  each 
member  of  which  her  influence  was  brought  to 
bear  by  letter  writing  and  by  personal  interviews. 
After  her  marriage  she  was  an  invaluable  helper 
to  her  husband  in  his  work  as  a  minister.  Her 
domestic  arrangements  were  such  that  she  could 
give  much  time  to  church  work,  and  there  was 
scarcely  any  form  of  Christian  activit}^  appropriate 
for  her  in  which  she  did  not  engage,  whether  in 
parish  visitation,  or  in  the  benevolent  and  patriotic 
work  of  the  church,  or  in  mothers'  meetings,  or  in 
plans  for  interesting  the  children,  or  in  attention  to 
the  spiritual  wants  of  those  who  inquired  the  way 
of  salvation.  She  had  a  class  of  forty  or  fifty 
little  children  in  the  Sunda3'-schooL  Her  habits 
of  secret  devotion  were  remarkable.  Not  less 
than  two  or  three  hours  a  day  were  given  to 
religious  reading,  meditation,  and  prayer.  By 
nature  she  was  gentle  and  amiable.  Her  manner 
was  quiet,  and  she  spoke  in  a  low  voice;  but  she 
had  that  strength  of  character  which  comes  from 
habitual  loyalty  to  conscience,  and  that  influence 
over  others  which  is  gained  by  a  life  of  consistent 
piety.     She  was  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers 


94  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

of  water,  whose  leaf  does  not  wither,  and   whose 
fruit  does  not  fail. 

The  ministers  and  ministers'  wives  no7u  living" 
who  have  gone  out  from  this  church  are  the 
following:  — 

Rev.  James  Atwood  Bates,  Rev.  Dr.  Gilbert  R. 
Brackett,  Rev.  Charles  A.  Kingsbury,  Rev.  Frank 
D.  Sargent,  Rev.  James  A.  Towle,  professor 
in  Iowa  College,  Rev.  Erastus  Blakeslee,  Rev. 
John  Barstow,  Mrs.  Rev.  Dr.  D.  T.  Fiske,  Mrs. 
Professor  E.  Y.  Hincks,  Mrs.  Harriet  Childs 
Mead,  missionar}'  in  Turkey,  Mrs.  Charles  F. 
Roper,  formerly  missionar}^  in  Southern  Georgia, 
and  Mrs.  H.  P.  Dewey.  We  have  also  another 
missionar}^,  Miss  Sarah  L.  Smith,  in  Micronesia. 

Mr.  Bates  and  Mr.  Barstow  were  not  members 
of  this  church,  but  their  parents  were,  and  the}" 
were  baptized  here,  —  Mr.  Bates  in  1832,  and  Mr. 
Barstow  in  1857.  Both  are  sons  of  ministers. 
Mr.  Bates  is  a  son  of  a  former  pastor  of  this 
church,  and  went  to  Ceylon  as  a  missionar}',  fol- 
lowing in  the  steps  of  Harriet  Newell,  who  was 
sister  to  his   mother. 

You  have  noticed  how  nobly  connected  some 
of  the  ministers  of  our  church  have  been.  Mr. 
Cotton  was  great-grandson  of  the  man  for  whom 
Boston  was  named,  because  he  came  from  Boston 
in  England.  Mr.  Hobart  was  uncle  to  Doroth}' 
Hobart,  the  mother  of  David  Brainerd,  one  of  the 
holiest  men  that  ever  lived.     Mr.  Eliot's  first  wife. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  95 

Sarah  Willet,  had  a  sister  Mary,  who  was  the  wife 
of  a  son  of  Thomas  Hooker,  and  grandmother  of 
Mrs.  President  Edwards;  so  that  Mrs.  EHot  was 
great-aunt  to  Mrs.  Edwards.  Mr.  Eliot's  widow 
married  Col.  Edmund  Quincy,  father  of  Judge 
Edmund  Quincy,  who  was  the  great-grandfather  of 
Josiah  Quincy,  President  of  Harvard  College.  It 
is  enough  to  say  of  Mr.  Eliot  that  he  was  a  son  of 
the  Apostle  Eliot,  but  his  brother  Joseph,  of  Guil- 
ford, had  a  son  Jared  who  was  a  remarkable  man. 
He  was  the  minister  of  Killingworth,  Conn.,  where 
he  never  omitted  preaching  on  the  Lord's  day  for 
forty  years.  He  delighted  in  the  gospel  of  God's 
grace  to  perishing  sinners,  and  yet  he  was  a  physi- 
cian, a  philosopher,  a  linguist,  a  mineralogist,  a 
botanist,  and  a  scientific  agriculturist.  He  knew 
so  much  about  diseases  and  their  treatment  that  he 
was  more  extensively  consulted  than  any  physician 
in  New  Enoland.  Being;  on  the  main  road  from 
New  York  to  Boston,  he  was  visited  by  many 
gentlemen  of  distinction.  He  was  a  personal 
friend  and  correspondent  of  Bishop  Berkeley.  Dr. 
Franklin  always  called  upon  him  when  passing 
through  the  town.  This  man  was  nephew  to 
Rev.  John  Eliot,  Jr.,  and  he  once  preached  in  this 
place. 

The  record  of  the  town  of  Newton  for  patriot- 
ism in  the  French  and  Indian  wars  and  in  the  war 
of  the  Revolution  is  a  noble  one.  The  church 
shares  this  honor  with  the  town. 


96  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Capt.  Thomas  Prentice,  by  his  bold  and  rapid 
movements  as  commander  of  a  troop  of  horse, 
made  his  name  a  terror  to  the  hostile  Indians. 
John  Druce  was  in  Captain  Prentice's  company  in 
the  war  with  Philip  in  1675  and  fell  near  Mount 
Hope.  Capt.  Noah  Wiswall,  son  of  Elder  Thomas 
Wiswall,  fell  in  a  long  and  obstinate  engagement 
with  the  French  and  Indians  in  1690,  at  a  place 
which  is  now  Lee,  N.H.,  near  Dover.  All  these 
men  were  original  members  of  this  church  in 
1664.  Other  men  must  have  served  in  those  early 
wars  whose  names  have  been   lost. 

Col.  Benjamin  Hammond  was  in  the  battles  of 
Concord  and  Lexington.  Capt.  Amariah  Fuller, 
who  commanded  one  of  the  Newton  companies  in 
those  battles,  was  admitted  to  this  church  at  the  age 
of  seventy-one.  Phineas  Cook,  commander  of  the 
Minute  Men,  joined  the  church  soon  after  the 
war.  For  some  reason  he  was  not  with  his  men 
at  Concord  and  Lexington,  and  they  were  led  by 
that  brave  and  impetuous  soldier,  Michael  Jackson. 
Colonel  Jackson  was  received  into  the  church  at 
his  own  house  in  1802  during  his  last  sickness.  He 
belonged  to  a  patriotic  family,  and  had  nobly  fought 
and  bled  for  his  country's  independence.  He  had 
jive  brothers  and  five  sons  ivith  liim  in  the  army. 
Captain  Cook  was  probably  in  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill.  Four  of  the  men  whose  names  are  in  our 
list  of  deacons  were  soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  — 
John   Woodward,   David  Stone,  Jonas   Stone,   and 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  97 

Ebenezer  Woodward.  Joseph  Ward,  father  of 
Col.  Joseph  Ward,  was  made  deacon  in  the  West 
church.  General  Hull  entered  the  army  at  Cam- 
bridge as  captain,  and  was  afterwards  major  and 
lieutenant-colonel.  His  services  through  the  war 
were  constant  and  valuable.  Col.  Joseph  Ward 
served  his  country  ably  with  sword  and  pen.  He 
distinguished  himself  at  Bunker  Hill.  Near  the 
close  of  the  war  he  received  the  thanks  of  General 
Washington  for  patriotic  zeal  and  fidelity  on  all 
occasions. 

Man}'  of  the  men  who  enlisted  for  service  were 
past  the  age  for  military  duty.  Some  were  so 
much  over  fifty  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  that 
they  must  have  been  sixty  or  more  at  its  close. 
Thomas  Beals  was  fifty-eight  at  the  beginning, 
William  Clark  fifty-nine,  Thomas  Miller  sixty-two, 
Benjamin  Eddy  sixty-eight,  Joseph  Ward  sixty- 
nine,  and  Ebenezer  Parker  seventy-three.  It  is 
not  probable  that  the  severer  duties  of  army  life 
were  put  upon  such  men  as  these;  but  there  were 
ways  in  which  the}'  could  serve  their  country  in  its 
time  of  need,  and  this  they  did.  Besides  the  men 
already  mentioned  as  soldiers  of  the  Revolution, 
the  following  names  should  be  added,  and  they  are 
given  in  the  order  in  which  they  appear  on  the 
church  roll  :  Joseph  Jackson,  Samuel  Jackson, 
Jonathan  Williams,  Gideon  Park,  Isaac  Williams, 
Joshua  Jackson,  Norman  Clarke,  Timothy  Jackson, 
Samuel    Hyde,    Edward    Jackson,    John    Kenrick, 


98  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Samuel  Woodward,  Joseph  Craft,  Norman  Clarke, 
Jr.,  Ebenezer  Seager,  Abram  Fuller,  Joshua  Ham- 
mond, John  Stone,  Solomon  Robbins,  William 
Bowles,  John  Eddy,  Noah  Hyde,  John  Murdock, 
Aaron  Murdock,  Joshua  Murdock,  Daniel  Hyde, 
John  Ward,  Phineas  Robbins,  Daniel  Fuller,  John 
Rogers,  John  Thwing,  James  Stone,  Benjamin 
Eddy,  Joshua  Flagg,  William  Hammond,  William 
Hyde,  Samuel  Murdock,  Joseph  White,  Edmund 
Trowbridge,   Samuel  Ward. 

Here  are  the  names  of  fifty-seven  men,  fort}'  of 
whom  were  members  of  the  church  at  the  time  of 
the  war,  and  seventeen  joined  it  afterward.  The 
total  number  of  male  members  of  the  church  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  was  seventy-eight.  More 
than  half  of  them  performed  military  duty.  This 
shows  how  heavy  a  draft  was  made  upon  the  popu- 
lation of  the  country  to  fill  the  ranks  of  the  arm}'. 
The  population  was  small,  and  every  able-bodied 
man  of  suitable  age  was  needed  in  the  struggle  for 
independence.  In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  the 
population  was  so  great  that  though  the  armies 
were  immense  in  size,  the  proportion  of  enlisted 
men  was  much  smaller.  Only  nine  of  the  members 
of  this  church  were  in  the  Union  army,  and  three  of 
these  were  not  members  at  the  time  of  the  war,  but 
became  such  afterward.  Their  names  are  Col. 
I.  F.  Kingsbury,  Sergt.-Major  Charles  Ward, 
Capt.  George  F.  Brackett,  Major  Ambrose  Ban- 
croft, Roger  S.   Kingsbury,  Edward  A.  Ellis,  John 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  99 

E.  Towle,  Capt.  Joseph  E.  Cousens,  and  William 
H.  Dal}^ 

Edward  P.  Kingsbury  enlisted  and  went  into 
camp,  but  was  compelled  b}^  ill  health  to  return 
home.  He  had  done  his  best  to  appear  sound  and 
strong  in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  accepted.  His 
brother  Frank  cried  because  his  father  would  not 
allow  him  to  be  a  soldier. 

Capt.  George  F.  Brackett  enlisted  under  the 
very  first  call  for  troops  that  was  issued  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln.  He  was  in  the  first  battle  of  Bull 
Run.  After  this  he  was  six  months  in  the  navy. 
Then  for  three  years  he  was  captain  of  a  company 
of  colored  men,  whose  respect  and  affection  he  en- 
joyed, and  in  whose  soldier-like  qualities  and  apt- 
ness for  military  discipline  he  took  much  pride. 
After  the  war  he  was  commander  for  two  years  of 
the  Army  Post  in  this  city,  for  which  he  raised  a 
fund  of  nearly  three  thousand  dollars.  He  died  in 
1876,  having  suffered  much  from  chills  and  fever 
contracted  in  the  trying  climate  of  Louisiana.  He 
was  generous,  kind,  self-forgetting,  public-spirited, 
courteous,  with  a  quick  sense  of  fitness  and  pro- 
priety, and  mindful  on  all  occasions  of  what  was 
due  to  those  around  him.  When  he  saw  that  death 
was  near  he  showed  the  calmness  of  one  who  felt 
that  he  had  a  sure  hiding-place  in  the  clefts  of  the 
Rock  of  Ages.  He  had  been  an  active  and  con- 
sistent Christian.  From  the  beginning  of  his  mar- 
ried  life   till    he    came    to    his    dying    bed   he  had 


lOO  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

maintained  family  prayer  in  his  household,  with  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures,  daily,  morning  and  even- 
ing. He  wrought  Scripture  texts  in  beautiful 
letters  with  his  own  hand,  framed  them,  and  hung 
them  on  the  walls  of  his  house.  One  of  these, 
which  hung  where  he  could  see  it  as  he  lay  on  his 
bed,  was,  ''  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth." 
These  were  probably  the  last  words  he  ever  read 
on  earth,  and  we  believe  that  now,  because  his 
Redeemer  lives,  he  lives  also. 

Roger  S.  Kingsbury  enlisted  very  early  in  the 
war  and  was  in  several  of  the  great  battles.  On 
the  second  day  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  he  was 
so  severely  wounded  that  he  could  not  return  to  the 
ranks.  He  died  in  seven  years  from  that  time.  In 
a  letter  to  his  pastor  while  in  the  army  he  said,  "  I 
spend  my  Sabbaths  reading  the  Bible,  and  on  com- 
munion Sabbaths  I  read  about  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  Christ,  and  think  of  3'ou  all  at  home  sitting 
at  the  Lord's  table.  We  have  some  good  Christians 
in  our  company,  Franklin  Kingsbury,  Charles 
Ward,  George  Nichols,  and  others,  and  we  some- 
times meet  in  one  of  the  tents  to  read  and  sing." 
This  shows  how  our  soldiers  kept  their  religion 
alive  while  in  camp.  Roger  Kingsbury  was  loyal 
to  the  flag,  and  lo3^al  to  the  Captain  of  his  salva- 
tion. 

In  July,  1862,  Charles  Ward,  who  was  almost 
ready  to  enter  college,  having  the  ministry  in  view, 
said  to  his  older  brothers,  "  One  of  us  ought  to  go 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  lOI 

to  the  war,  and  I  am  the  one,  for  I  have  no  family." 
When  they  reminded  him  of  his  ill  health,  he  said, 
"I  will  ask  the  doctor;"  and  though  he  got  no  en- 
couragement from  the  doctor,  he  said,  "  I  believe  it 
is    my    duty    to    go."       His    friends    said    to    him, 
"  Charles,    if  3^ou   enlist  for   three  years   you    will 
never  come  back."     His  only  reply  was,  "  I  do  not 
expect   to   come   back."     When   the   family   found 
that  he  was  talking  about  duty^  they  said  one  to  an- 
other, "It  is  of  no  use.     If  Charles  thinks  it  is  his 
duty  to  go,  go  he  will,  and  we  cannot  hinder  him." 
On   the   evening   of  his   enlistment  he   said,  "  We 
hear  the  call  of  our  country  summoning  us  to  her 
defence  in  the  hour  of  peril.     Is   there  a  life  too 
precious  to  be  sacrificed  in  such  a  cause?     I  do  not 
feel  that  mine  is.     I  rejoice  that  I  am  permitted  to 
2"o  and  fight  in  her  defence.      Had  not  our  fathers 
been  willing  to  do  this,  what  would  have  been  our 
condition  to-day?     I  have  come  here  to  enrol   my 
name  as  a  soldier  of  my  country,  and  I  hope  I  am 
ready  to  die  for  her  if  need  be."      He  bade  farewell 
to  home,  called  at  his  pastor's  house  for  a  season  of 
prayer,  and  went  on  to  join  the  army.     For  a  time 
he  was  detailed  as  clerk  at  division  headquarters, 
but  as  soon  as  the  call  to  arms  was  heard  he  dropped 
his  pen  for  his  place  in  the  ranks,  sa3^ing,  "  I  can- 
not   sit  here  writing   when   my  company  is  going 
into  battle."     This  was  the  battle  of  Chancellors- 
ville,  in  which  he  fought  bravely  with  his  comrades. 
In  a  letter  home  he  said,  "•  I  feel  now  that  I  am  in 


I02  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

the  wa}'  of  ni}'  dut}',  and  I  am  as  happy  as  I  can  be. 
I  never  enjoyed  life  better,  not  because  army  life  is 
easy,  for  it  is  not,  and  nothing  but  duty  to  my 
country  would  have  brought  me  here." 

His  moral  and  religious  character  nobly  stood 
the  test  of  army  life.  He  was  as  little  affected  by 
its  demoralizing  influences  as  the  three  Hebrews 
were  by  the  fury  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  furnace, 
when  they  came  forth  from  it  without  the  smell  of 
fire  upon  them.  The  whiskey  that  was  furnished  to 
the  soldiers  as  a  tonic  he  would  neither  drink  nor 
commute  for  other  rations.  He  regularly  took  it 
and  poured  it  on  the  ground.  After  he  had  re- 
ceived his  fatal  wound,  artifice  was  resorted  to  by 
the  surgeon  to  induce  him  to  take  brandy.  He  de- 
tected the  presence  of  the  brandy  and  would  not 
drink. 

His  religious  influence  was  felt  in  the  soldiers' 
pra3^er  meetings  and  in  his  habitual  use  of  his 
Bible.  In  a  letter  home  he  said,  "  I  thought  of 
leaving  my  Bible  in  my  knapsack  when  on  a  five 
da3^s'  march  and  taking  only  my  Psalms  and  hymns, 
but  mother  gave  me  the  Bible  and  I  could  not 
leave  it."  His  calm  unwavering  courage  in  battle 
or  in  prospect  of  a  battle  was  a  tonic  to  the  whole 
regiment.  Every  man  in  it  knew  that  he  had  given 
his  life  to  the  cause  of  his  country,  and  that  he  stood 
ready  to  complete  the  sacrifice  whenever  his  duty 
as  a  soldier  required  it.  The  last  words  he  spoke 
to  us  before  leaving  home  to  join  the  army  were 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  103 

spoken  at  a  farewell   meeting  for   soldiers   on  the 
evening  of  the   last  Sunday  in  July,  1862.     "  I  do 
not  think,"  said  he,  "  that  our  going  to  the  war  is 
making  so  great  a  sacrifice,  for  if  we  lose  our  lives, 
it  will  be  gain  to  us;  we  shall  be  with  Christ  the 
sooner."     At  Gettysburg,  on  the  ver}^  crest  of  the 
wave  of  that  gigantic  war,  he  laid   down   his   life. 
In  a  charge  across  an  open   field   under   a   deadly 
fire,  a  bullet  pierced  his  lungs   and   he    fell.     He 
lived  several  days  after  this,  and  was  left  in  a  barn 
with  other  wounded  soldiers.     One  of  them  said, 
""  I  am  sorry  I  ever  enlisted."     Charles,  overhearing 
him,  said,  "I  do  not  feel  so,  I  am  glad  I  came;  this 
is   what   I    expected."     He    sent   loving   messages 
home  to  his  friends,  and  said  to  them,  "  Death  has 
no  fears  for  me,  my  hope   is   still  firm   in  Jesus." 
Such  was  the  death,  in  his  twenty-second  year,  of  a 
Christian  soldier,  a  man  who  gave   his  life  first  to 
God,  and  then  to  his   country.     An   officer  of  his 
regiment  said  of  him,  ''  A  pattern  of  goodness  and 
worth,  he  became  endeared  to  all,  so  refined  and 
cultivated,  even  amidst  the  rough  usages  of  camp 
life,  a  necessit}-  to  the  regiment."     Fitly  the  Army 
Post  of  this  city  bears  his  name.      He  was  the  only 
member  of  our  church   that  was   killed  in  battle. 
Grafton    H.    Ward,    Theodore     L.    Brackett,    and 
Stephen  L.  Nichols,   not  members  of  the  church, 
nobly  gave  their  lives;  and  so  did  George  H.  Nich- 
ols, one  of  our  young  men,  but  belonging  to  another 
church.     Seth  Cousens  and  probabl}^  others  have 


I04  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

died  in  consequence  of  the  war.  All  our  soldiers 
offered  their  lives  and  were  exposed  to  the  perils 
of  a  soldier's  life.  If  this  was  done  for  Christ's 
sake,  and  for  the  principles  embodied  in  such  a 
government  as  ours,  the  life  they  offered  will  end 
in  the  life  everlasting,  for  "  he  that  loseth  his  life 
for  my  sake,"  said  our  Lord,  "  shall  find  it." 

William  H.  Ward,  brother  of  Charles,  might 
properly  be  counted  among  the  soldiers  from  this 
church,  for  here  was  the  home  of  his  boyhood,  and 
this  was  the  church  he  first  joined. 

The  present  pastor  of  this  church,  Rev.  Theo- 
dore J.  Holmes,  presented  a  noble  example  to  the 
young  men  of  his  congregation  in  East  Hartford, 
Conn.,  when  he  enlisted  as  a  private.  He  was  not 
allowed  to  serve  in  that  capacity,  but  was  appointed 
chaplain. 

To  recapitulate  some  of  the  statements  already 
made,  our  church  has  supplied  for  the  service  of 
the  country,  in  wars  early  and  late,  seventy  men, 
and  it  is  believed  that  in  the  French  and  Indian 
wars  there  were  soldiers  whose  names  have  been 
lost. 

Twenty-two  ministers  have  gone  out  from  us, 
seventeen  ministers'  wives,  and  one  young  woman 
unmarried,  as  a  missionary.  Twenty-five  descend- 
ants of  these  ministers  and  ministers'  wives  have 
been  ministers,  and  twenty-one  have  been  minis- 
ters' wives.  No  doubt  the  number  is  greater 
than   this,  but  these  have  been   counted.     Two  of 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  I05 

the  ministers  stayed  forty  years  each  in  one  place, 
one  forty-six  years,  one  forty-seven,  two  fifty,  one 
fifty-three,  one  fifty-five,  and  the  husband  of  one  of 
the  wives  sixty  years.  We  have  then  a  total  of 
eighty-six  persons  who  have  been  engaged  in 
ministerial  or  missionary  service ;  namely,  forty- 
seven  ministers  (of  whom  five  were  missionaries), 
thirty-eight  wives  of  ministers  (of  whom  three 
were  missionaries),  and  one  missionary  unmarried. 

A  large  number  of  eminent  men  have  either 
been  members  of  this  church  or  descendants  of 
members.  First  of  all  should  be  mentioned  our 
own  deacon  Isaac  Williams,  ancestor  of  a  long  line 
of  distinguished  men.  His  son  William,  of  Hat- 
field, his  grandsons,  Solomon,  of  Lebanon,  Conn., 
Elisha,  President  of  Yale  College,  and  Colonel 
Ephraim,  founder  of  Williams  College,  and  his 
great-grandsons,  Eliphalet,  of  East  Hartford,  Conn., 
and  William,  of  Lebanon,  Conn.,  a  member  of 
Congress  and  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, are  conspicuous  representatives  of  this 
notable  family.  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Buckminster,  his 
son  Rev.  Joseph  Stephens  Buckminster,  Judge 
Theodore  Sedgwick,  his  daughter  Catharine  Maria 
Sedgwick,  President  Mark  Hopkins,  and  Professor 
Albert  Hopkins,  Mrs.  Professor  B.  B.  Edwards, 
Mrs.  E.  W.  Blatchford,  and  Mrs.  E.  S.  Mead, 
President  of  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary  and  Col- 
lege, are  descendants  still  further  down  the  line. 

Jonas    Clark,    of    Lexington,    minister,    patriot, 


Io6  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

statesman,  and  his  grandson,  Henry  Ware,  Jr., 
professor  in  Harvard  Divinity  School,  were  emi- 
nent men. 

Joseph  Park,  of  Westerly,  R.I.,  had  a  Sunday- 
school  in  his  church  thirt}'  years  before  the  time  of 
Robert  Raikes.  Thomas  Park,  LL.D.,  was  pro- 
fessor in  Columbia  College,  South  Carolina.  Rev. 
Calvin  Park,  D.D.,  was  professor  in  Brown  Uni- 
versity. His  son  Edwards  A.  Park,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
has  been  editor  of  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra  forty 
3^ears,  professor  in  Andover  Theological  Seminary 
forty-five  years,  a  preacher  and  author  sixt}^  3^ears, 
and  is  still  preparing  works  for  the  press. 

From  John  Eliot,  Jr.,  the  first  minister  of  our 
church,  descended  his  son  Judge  John  Eliot,  and 
from  him  Henr}^  C.  Bowen,  Esq.  From  his  widow 
by  a  second  marriage  was  descended  Josiah 
Quincy,   LL.D,,   President  of  Harvard    College. 

From  Mr.  Hobart,  the  second  minister  of  our 
church,  have  descended  Rev.  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs,  of 
Braintree,  his  son  Rev.  R.  S.  Storrs,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
of  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  Dr.  Joseph  Torrey,  President 
of  the  University  of  Vermont,  and  Judge  Robert 
R.   Bishop,  of  this  place. 

From  Mr.  Cotton,  our  third  minister,  were  de- 
scended Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Thayer  and  his  son 
by  the  same   name,  patron  of  Harvard  College. 

Other  descendants  of  members  of  this  church 
are  Rev.  Dr.  James  Freeman  Clarke,  Rev.  Dr. 
William  Hayes  Ward,  and  Professor  William  G.  T. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  I07 

Shedd,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  a  prolific  author,  and  the 
greatest  master  of  the  Augustinian  theolog}'  in 
our  land. 

William  Jackson,  pioneer  in  temperance  and 
anti-slavery,  father  of  railroads,  member  of  Con- 
gress as  an  anti-Mason,  a  pillar  in  the  church, 
zealous  in  all  good  works,  was  a  member  of  this 
church   from    1814  to    1845. 

Included  in  this  enumeration  are  three  judges, 
two  members  of  Congress,  uncounted  authors,  four 
college  professors,  three  professors  in  theological 
seminaries,  and  five  college  presidents.  What 
opportunities  for  usefulness  do  such  positions  as 
these  afford,  and  what  sense  of  security  we  have 
when  the  right  men  fill  them!  Those  who  are 
called  to  instruct  and  guide  the  young  in  the  form- 
ing period  of  their  lives  are  sitting  at  the  very 
fountains  of  influence.  They  direct  the  thinking 
of  the  time,  for  they  teach  those  who  are  to  be 
the  thinkers.  If  all  our  colleges  and  schools  were 
provided  with  such  teachers  as  those  whose  names 
have  just  been  mentioned,  we  might  almost  say 
that  society  would  be  safe  in  their  hands.  John 
Wesley  when  a  young  man  declined  a  curacy  that 
he  might  spend  ten  years  at  Oxford.  If  he  had 
taken  a  pulpit  he  felt  that  he  should  purify  only 
one  particular  stream;  therefore  he  went  to  the 
University  that  he   might  "  sweeten  the  fountain." 

It  is  exceedingly  gratifying  to  us  to  find  in  how 
many  ways  the  church  that  we  love  has  been  of 


Io8  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

service  to  the  interests  of  mankind,  through  minis- 
ters and  missionaries  and  teachers  and  presidents, 
and  gifts  of  money,  through  the  lives  of  men  and 
women  who,  like  Moses  on  the  Mount,  had 
power  with  God  in  prayer,  and  through  the  lives 
of  men  who,  like  Joshua,  when  the  life  of  the 
nation  was  threatened,  could  go  out  and  fight 
against  her  enemies.  It  is  simply  amazing  to  see 
in  how  many  directions  the  influence  of  a  single 
local  church  may  go  out,  and  how  its  agencies 
for  making  disciples  and  for  edifying  the  body  of 
Christ  may  extend  and  multiply  in  successive 
generations,  when  the  children  of  ministers,  their 
grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren,  and  de- 
scendants still  more  remote,  are  found  perpetuating 
the  work  of  their  ancestors  and  keeping  alive  the 
fragrance  of  their  name.  This  is  a  kind  of  fruit 
which  it  is  the  peculiar  privilege  of  an  ancient 
church  like  ours  to  gather  up.  Is  it  not  also  the 
privilege  of  a  country  chufch  in  distinction  from  a 
city  church?  Churches  which  are  remote  frorn  the 
excitements,  the  diversions,  and  the  frivolities  which 
are  incident  to  city  life  furnish  by  far  the  larger 
proportion  of  the  men  who  stand  in  the  pulpits  of 
the  land,  and  exert  a  controlling  influence  upon 
society,  as  well  as  of  those  who  carry  the  Gospel  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth.  Establish  a  local  church 
where  one  is  needed  either  in  country  or  city,  and 
you  open  a  fountain  of  living  waters  which  may 
flow   on    to   the    end   of  time.      Its   work   g-oes   on 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  I09 

quietly,  but  constantly,  like  the  flowing  of  a  gentle 
river,  in  sermons,  and  prayer  meetings,  and  Sunday- 
schools,  in  pastoral  visitation  and  in  benevolent 
contributions;  and  sometimes  we  are  cast  down  in 
spirit  because  there  are  no  more  visible  results. 
But  God  has  said,  "My  word  shall  not  return  to 
me  void;  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I 
sent  it."  This  is  alwa3^s  true,  and  when  we  look 
through  long  periods  of  time  we  see  it.  "  Every- 
thing lives  whithersoever  the  river  cometh." 

An  ancient  church  is  often  a  mother  of  churches. 
As  the  ban3^an  tree  in  the  East  sends  down  shoots 
from  its  branches  to  take  root  in  the  earth  and 
become  the  stems  and  trunks  of  new  trees,  so  this 
church  sent  down  a  shoot  into  the  soil  of  the  West 
Parish  in  1781,  and  a  new  tree  sprang  up  there. 
In  1845  it  sent  one  down  on  the  spot  where  Eliot 
Church  now  stands,  and  what  a  banyan  tree  is 
there!  Another  was  dropped  at  Newtonville  in 
1858,  and  another  at  Newton  Highlands  in  1872, 
and  the  trees  all  flourish,  and  their  prosperity  is  our 
joy.  The  work  of  the  scores  of  ministers  who  have 
gone  out  into  the  world  tracing  their  roots  back  to 
this  hallowed  spot  sends  back  its  benediction  upon 
us  and  fills  us  with  thanksgiving.  For  "  so  is  the 
kingdom  of  God  as  if  a  man  should  cast  seed  upon 
the  earth;  and  should  sleep  and  rise  night  and  day, 
and  the  seed  should  spring  up  and  grow  he  knoiveth 
not  how.  The  earth  beareth  fruit  of  herself"  under 
the  smile  of  God,  and  so  does  a  local  church.     It  is 


no  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

an  institution  filled  with  unspeakable  blessing  to 
all  within  its  reach.  Continually,  in  one  way  and 
another,  often  in  ways  that  we  do  not  observe,  and 
in  ways  that  we  never  shall  know  in  this  world,  it 
is  bringing  forth  fruit  unto  God. 

If  this  church  through  its  long  history  has  been 
a  blessing  to  others,  it  has  been  a  blessing  to  this 
particular  locality.  Sound  doctrine  and  true  re- 
ligion bring  with  them  everything  that  is  desirable 
in  human  society.  We  love  the  city  where  we 
dwell,  we  enjoy  its  good  name  and  its  fair  fame 
among  the  cities  and  towns  of  our  commonwealth. 
If  society  among  us  is  established  upon  right 
principles,  and  if  the  character  and  conduct  of  the 
people  are  such  as  to  adorn  those  principles,  —  if  all 
this  is  true  in  an  eminent  degree,  as  we  think  it  is, 
we  are  largely  indebted  for  it  to  those  who  have 
gone  before  us,  and  especially  to  the  early  minis- 
ters. Their  faithful  preaching  and  godly  living 
were  the  foundation  on  which  society  was  built. 
They  formed  the  channel  which  shaped  the  direc- 
tion of  the  stream  that  has  been  flowing  ever  since. 
Their  spirit  is  in  the  air,  and  it  has  been  breathed 
by  every  successive  generation,  and  it  is  in  great 
measure  because  of  this  that  the  lines  have  fallen 
to  us  in  such  pleasant  places  and  that  we  have  so 
goodly  a  heritage. 

I.  In  view  of  the  notice  which  we  have  now 
taken   of  the    history   of  our  beloved   church,   one 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  Ill 

obvious  reflection  is  upon  the  connection  which  the 
church  has  had  at  several  points  tvith  missionaiy 
work.  Our  first  pastor  was  a  missionar}'  to  the 
Indians,  a  co-laborer  with  his  apostoHc  father. 
Mr.  Hobart  was  related  to  David  Brainerd,  one  of 
the  most  devoted  missionaries  that  the  world  has 
seen.  Abigail  Williams,  granddaughter  of  our 
deacon  Isaac  Williams,  married  Rev.  John  Ser- 
geant, a  missionary  to  the  Housatonic  Indians,  and 
left  a  son  who  spent  his  life  in  the  same  work. 
Rev.  Joseph  Park  was  a  missionar}-  to  the  Indians 
and  English  in  Westerly,  R.I.  Williams  College, 
the  place  where  the  foreign  missionary  work  of 
the  American  churches  was  prayed  into  existence, 
was  founded  by  a  Newton  man,  grandson  of  Deacon 
Isaac  Williams.  Ancestors  of  Dr.  Mark  Hopkins 
and  of  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs,  two  presidents  of  our 
foreign  missionary  board,  went  out  from  this 
church,  one  a  Williams  and  the  other  a  Hobart. 
The  first  president  of  the  American  Missionary 
Association  was  a  deacon  in  this  church.  Rev. 
Increase  Sumner  Davis  was  a  home  missionary 
working  a  neglected  field  in  northern  New  Hamp- 
shire into  fruitfulness.  Surely  this  church  should 
be  a  friend  and  supporter  of  missions.  If  it  is  not, 
we  are  not  walking  in  the  steps  of  our  fathers,  or 
following  the  suggestions  of  our  own  history.  The 
work  of  the  American  Missionar}'  Association 
should  be  dear  to  us  for  William  Jackson's  sake, 
and  we  should  be  moved  as  he  was  by  the  oppres- 


112  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

sion  of  the  poor  and  the  sighing  of  the  need3\ 
That  association  seeks  the  welfare  not  only  of  the 
colored  people  of  the  South,  but  of  Chinese  and 
Indians,  —  the  former  the  victims  of  legislation  dis- 
graceful to  a  Christian  government,  and  the  latter 
the  objects  of  compassion  to  Eliot  and  Brainerd 
and  John  Sergeant  and  his  son  and  Joseph  Park, 
but  perfidiously  treated  by  this  government  from 
first  to  last.  This  church  should  not  only  be  for 
salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  but  for  righteous- 
ness here  at  home,  that  righteousness  and  salvation 
may  spring  up  together.  It  is  not  enough  for  us  to 
have  sent  Harriet  N.  Childs  to  Central  Turkey, 
and  Bertha  Robertson  to  southern  Georgia,  and 
Sarah  L.  Smith  to  Micronesia.  We  should  pray 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  will  send  still  more 
of  our  beloved  youth  into  his  plenteous  harvest, 
bright  as  the  dew  of  the  morning  in  the  beauty  of 
their  consecration. 

2.  Another  reflection  is  upon  the  attention 
which  the  ministers  of  fovfner  days  bestowed  upon 
the  young.  In  the  year  1727  in  man}'  towns  young 
men  set  up  meetings  for  religious  exercises  on  the 
evenings  of  the  Lord's  day.  Such  meetings  were 
held  here,  and  Mr.  Cotton  delivered  four  sermons 
on  the  text  "  Run,  speak  to  this  young  man." 

In  the  revival  of  1741  scores  of  children  and 
young  people  called  upon  their  minister  from  week 
to  week  for  religious  conversation.  While  this  in- 
terest  was   going   on   three    children   of  Mr.  John 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  II3 

Park  died  within  the  space  of  two  weeks  after  very 
brief  illness,  one  of  them  eighteen  years  old,  an- 
other sixteen,  and  another  ten.  These  deaths  pro- 
duced such  an  effect  upon  the  young  that  the  scores 
who  had  called  upon  the  minister  were  increased 
to  hundreds,  and  Mr.  Cotton  states  that  more  than 
three  hundred  had  been  with  him  expressing  a 
serious  concern  about  the  salvation  of  their  souls. 
This  is  really  a  most  astonishing  instance  of  deep 
and  wide-spread  interest  in  religion  among  the 
young.  We  think  we  are  doing  more  for  the 
young  than  was  ever  done  before,  but  who  of  us 
ever  saw  anything  like  this?  Who  of  us  ever 
heard  of  a  place  before,  no  larger  than  this,  where 
three  hundred  and  more  of  the  children  and  youth 
of  the  place  were  calling  upon  their  minister  to 
know  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved?  The  young 
came  from  surrounding  towns  to  attend  the  meet- 
ings here,  and  in  one  instance  at  least,  Mr.  Cotton 
made  a  special  address  to  them.  He  gave  his 
hearers  revival  news  from  other  places.  "  I  have 
received  letters,"  said  he,  "  from  Lebanon  and 
Hebron  in  Connecticut  giving  an  account  of  many 
children,  onl}/  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  who  seem 
to  be  enlightened  and  to  talk  with  a  surprising  free- 
dom and  confidence  concerninof  Christ  and  the 
things  of  God."  Now  it  is  impossible  for  such  a 
wave  of  religious  interest  to  roll  over  this  place 
without  leaving  ineffaceable  marks  of  itself  Ac- 
cordingly when,  fort}'  years  after  that.  Dr.  Homer 


114  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

came  here,  what  does  he  sa}'  in  his  letter  accepting 
his  call?  "I  have  noticed,"  said  he,  "the  diligent 
and  solemn  attention  of  the  people,  and  especially 
of  the  youth,  of  this  place,  to  the  public  services 
of  religion,  in  which  I  have  seldom,  if  ever,  found 
them  equalled  elsewhere.  This  is  a  circumstance 
of  my  call  which  I  cannot  resist,  and  would  prefer 
to  every  other  possible  consideration."  The  re- 
vival of  1827,  in  which  seventy-one  persons  united 
with  the  church,  began  among  the  children  in 
the  Sunda)^-school.  Mr.  Bates  took  a  deep  in- 
terest in  the  Sunday-school.  A  very  active  and 
intelligent  member  of  this  church,  Mrs.  S.  G.  Ash- 
ton,  who  was  here  from  1858  to  1872,  said  that  she 
had  belonged  to  quite  a  number  of  churches  in 
different  places,  but  had  never  lived  in  a  place 
where  the  children  came  along  into  the  church  so 
naturally  on  arriving  at  a  certain  age,  as  in  this 
place.  Who  can  tell  how  much  we  are  indebted 
to  those  who  have  gone  before  us  for  such  a  state 
of  things?  Verily  the  wave  did  not  expend  itself 
in  Mr.  Cotton's  time  or  in  Dr.  Homer's  time,  for  it 
beats  upon  that  part  of  the  shore  of  time  where  we 
now  stand. 

3.  Among  the  revivals  which  have  blessed  our 
church,  that  of  1827  is  remarkable  as  showing 
■what  can  be  done  by  a  few  earnest  laymen  when 
religion  is  low  and  when  the  minister  is  not  the 
man  to  be  the  means  of  reviving  it.  Dr.  Homer 
was  growing  old,  he  was  absorbed  in  the  study  of 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  II5 

the  English  versions  of  the  Bible,  and  he  had  not 
the  faculty  for  conducting  a  revival,  even  if  one 
were  in  progress.  In  four  years,  only  four  persons 
had  been  received  into  the  church  upon  confession 
of  faith,  and  one  of  those  was  a  woman  in  the 
ninety-eighth  year  of  her  age.  During  this  period 
William  Jackson  had  spoken  of  the  good  state  of 
feeling  in  the  church.  Perhaps  his  hopeful  and 
enthusiastic  spirit  made  it  seem  better  than  it  was. 
Such  a  spirit  is  contagious,  and  he  found  not  only 
his  brothers  Woodward,  Davis,  and  Cook,  but 
many  others,  in  full  sympathy  with  him.  His 
labors  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  this  church  can 
be  related  in  his  own  words.  In  March,  1820,  after 
a  residence  of  several  years  in  Boston  he  returned 
to  Newton.  "The  change,"  said  he,  "was  a  de- 
lightful one  in  all  that  pertained  to  my  heart  and 
my  growth  in  grace.  I  went,  in  fact,  directly  into 
my  Master's  vineyard.  The  day  but  one  after 
going  to  Newton,  I  met  a  handful  of  Christians  at  a 
monthly  concert  in  Father  Homer's  parlor.  In- 
crease S.  Davis,  Capt.  Asa  Cook,  and  myself  met 
each  other  that  day  for  the  first  time,  all  three  of  us 
having  just  then  moved  into  the  parish.  Brother 
Woodward  made  the  fourth.  Four  brothers  in- 
deed! Together  in  the  Sunday-school,  together  in 
the  pra3^er  meeting,  and  together  in  every  other 
good  work  which  our  hands  and  hearts  found  to  do. 
In  these  good  works  we  continued  with  one  heart 
and  one   soul    until    the    fall   of   1827,   when    God 


Il6  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

opened  the  windows  of  heaven  and  poured  us 
out  such  a  blessing  that  we  had  hardly  room  to 
receive  it,  and  sure  I  am  that  none  of  us  knew  what 
to  do  with  it  or  how  to  behave  under  it.  From 
1820  to  1826  a  gradual  change  had  been  percepti- 
ble in  the  life  and  action  of  church  members.  An 
excellent  spirit  prevailed.  Prayer  meetings  and 
other  religious  meetings  were  increasingly  interest- 
ing and  well  attended.  The  Sunday-school  and 
other  organizations  in  the  church  were  prosperous, 
Father  Homer  ceased  his  exchanges  with  Unita- 
rians, a  child  was  adopted  in  Ceylon  bearing  the 
name  of  Dr.  Homer,  and  another  in  the  Choctaw 
mission  bearing  that  of  Mrs.  Homer,  and  the  church 
members  of  both  sexes  labored  and  loved  to  labor 
in  season  and  out  of  season  for  Christ  and  the  wel- 
fare of  souls;  and  when  the  fall  and  winter  of  1827 
came,  we  were  visited  and  blessed  with  such  a 
revival  as  had  never  before  been  experienced  in 
Newton.  In  this  work  for  four  or  five  years  I 
spent  a  great  deal  of  time  very  pleasantly,  and  very 
profitably  both  for  myself  and  family.  Four  of  my 
children  were  among  the  converts,  and  several  other 
members  of  my  household.  It  was  the  happiest 
year  that  I  have  ever  experienced.  Notwithstand- 
ing I  gave  m}'  mind  and  very  much  of  my  time  to 
this  work,  to  an  extent  in  fact  which  lookers  on, 
Christians  even,  would  have  thought  and  probably 
did  pronounce  ruinous  to  my  business,  yet  when  I 
came  to  take   an    account  of  stock   the  following 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  II 7 

June,  I  found  that  it  had  been  the  most  profitable 
year  of  my  Hfe,  that  I  had  never  before  laid  up 
more  money  in  one  year. 

"This  blessed  revival  continued  with  more  or  less 
strength  until  1834,  when  more  than  two  hundred 
members  had  been  added  to  our  church.  The 
members  of  the  church,  young  and  old,  seemed  all 
to  love  to  pray  and  to  labor,  and  found  their  chief 
happiness  in  doing  their  Master's  will." 

This  account  from  Deacon  Jackson's  pen,  written 
for  the  benefit  of  his  children,  and  at  their  request, 
is  a  very  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of  the 
revival  of  1827.  We  might  almost  call  it  the  dea- 
cons' revival.  When  Dr.  Homer  ceased  his  ex- 
changes with  Unitarian  ministers  there  is  evidence 
that  he  did  it  in  part,  at  least,  through  Deacon  Jack- 
son's influence.  Deacon  Jackson  had  been  a  Uni- 
tarian himself,  and  an  admirer  of  Channing,  but 
when  he  changed  his  views  the  change  was  com- 
plete and  decided,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  hear  any 
longer  from  the  pulpit  of  his  own  church,  doctrines 
which  he  had  rejected  as  unscriptural.  He  said  to 
Dr.  Homer,  "  There  is  need  of  a  great  deal  of  work 
here,  and  we  ought  not  to  tax  you  at  your  time  of 
life;  if  you  please  I  will  call  in  some  outside  help." 
Dr.  Homer  had  such  confidence  in  his  deacon  that 
he  allowed  him  to  do  whatever  he  pleased.  Ac- 
cordingly Rev.  Jonathan  S.  Green,  who  afterward 
went  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  as  a  missionary,  la- 
bored here  some  months,  and  after  him  Rev.  Isaac 


Il8  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

R.  Barber.  Deacon  Jackson's  house  was  their 
home  most  of  the  time,  and  their  labors  were  di- 
vided between  this  church  and  the  West  Newton 
church.  Extra  meetings  were  held  in  neighbor- 
hoods, all  of  which  were  attended,  and  many  of 
them  conducted,  by  the  tireless  deacon.^  When  he 
says  he  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  in  church  work 
for  four  or  five  years  he  refers  to  this,  and  to  his 
going  about  the  parish  in  compan}'  with  Mr.  Green 
or  Mr.  Barber,  to  introduce  them  to  the  families, 
and  to  converse  and  pray  with  inquirers,  and  to  in- 
terest as  many  as  possible  in  the  subject  of  their 
salvation.  He  also  spent  much  time  visiting  the 
sick  and  the  afflicted.  He  knew  what  affliction 
was.  When  his  first  wife  died,  at  the  age  of  thirty, 
he  heard  a  knock  at  the  door  of  his  heart  which  he 
well  understood.  He  threw  open  the  door,  and  a 
ofuest  entered  who  was  ever  after  his  Lord  and 
King.  He  wanted  every  troubled  and  distressed 
person  to  know  the  Man  of  sorrows,  and  he  loved  to 
fall  upon  his  knees  with  them  and  commit  their  case 
to  him.  He  wanted  all  to  submit  to'^him  as  he  had 
done,  and  nothing  made  him  happier  than  to  find 
some  inquirer  after  the  truth  who  was  willing  to  bow 
the  knee  with  him  in  prayer.  This  was  his  favorite 
means  for  bringing  souls  to  Christ.  He  had  not 
many  words  to  say  to  them,  and  what  he  said  was 

'  Saturday  evening  meetings  were  held  at  his  own  house.  "  This  carpet 
will  be  ruined,"  said  his  wife,  "by  so  many  muddy  boots."  —  "Never  mind," 
said  he,  "  wait  till  the  roads  are  dry  and  you  shall  have  the  handsomest  carpet 
there  is  in  Boston." 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  II 9 

said  in  a  quick  and  tender  manner;  but  he  had  much 
to  say  to  God  about  them,  and  with  them.  When 
engaged  upon  any  matter  of  business,  he  could  con- 
centrate his  attention  upon  it  so  as  not  to  be  dis- 
turbed by  conversation  or  anything  that  was  going  on 
about  him.  It  was  the  same  when  he  was  engaged 
in  prayer.  His  whole  heart  and  soul  seemed  to  be 
in  the  words  that  he  was  speaking,  and  he  poured 
out  his  desires  with  almost  as  little  reserve  as  if  no 
one  else  were  present  but  himself  and  the  Being 
whom  he  addressed.  Such  was  the  fervor  and  in- 
tensity of  his  spirit  that  neighborhood  meetings 
conducted  by  him  were  full,  even  if  it  was  known 
that  he  was  going  to  read,  as  he  sometimes  did,  a 
printed  sermon. 

Dr.  Lyman  Gilbert  said  that  when  he  came  to 
Newton  in  1828  he  found  three  marked  men  in  it,  — 
Elijah  F.  Woodward,  Joel  Fuller,  of  West  Newton, 
and  William  Jackson,  all  of  them  deacons.  After 
the  last  of  the  three  died  he  planned  a  sermon  with 
reference  to  them  on  the  text,  "  These  things  did 
these  three  mighty  men;  "  but  as  he  left  town  soon 
after,  the  sermon  was  not  finished.  In  describing 
their  prayers  he  imagined  a  union  meeting  in  the 
little  low  building  in  which  the  prayer  meetings  of 
our  church  were  formerly  held.  "  If  there  is  to  be 
a  meeting  of  that  kind,"  said  he,  "  they  are  sure  to 
be  there.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  with  us  in  power. 
Our  meeting  is  in  progress.  Woodward  prays, 
and  we  feel  that  the  Lord  is  fulfilling  his  promise 


I20  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

and  is  come  right  down  into  that  room,  and  Wood- 
ward in  his  low,  soft,  humble,  childlike  voice  is 
telling  him  all  our  feelings  and  all  our  desires. 
Now  Fuller  prays,  and  the  roof  of  our  building  is 
lifted,  a  door  is  opened  in  heaven,  the  throne  of 
God  appears,  the  angels  are  ascending  and  descend- 
ing, and  we  bow  in  reverence  and  awe  before  the 
Sovereign  of  the  universe.  Anon  Jackson  prays; 
walls  and  roof  vanish,  we  are  rapt  to  the  third 
heaven  and  are  pouring  out  our  hearts  in  love  and 
faith  and  hope  and  joy  before  the  great  loving 
Father  above." 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  with  such  men  as  these 
piercing  the  skies  with  their  petitions,  and  doing 
what  they  could  in  the  use  of  means  to  bring  about 
an  answer  to  their  pra3^ers,  this  place  should  have 
been  visited  with  a  revival  which  was  like  rain 
upon  the  mown  grass  and  like  showers  that  water 
the  earth. 

4.  The  history  of  our  church  shows  that  the 
ministers  of  foi'mer  times  -preached  with  much 
fulness  the  doctrine  of  future  retribution.  They 
felt  it  to  be  not  only  a  duty  but  a  necessity:  a 
duty,  because  God  says  to  the  watchman,  "  Thou 
shalt  hear  the  word  at  my  mouth  and  warn  them 
from  me;"  a  necessity,  because  men  are  deceived 
in  thinking  that  their  case  will  be  easier  under  the 
Gospel  even  if  they  do  not  accept  it,  than  it  would 
have  been  under  the  law;  whereas  Mr.  Hobart 
says  that  the  threatenings  of  the  Gospel  are  inex- 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  121 

pressibly  more  dreadful  than  those  of  the  law,  and 
that  in  the  day  of  judgment  it  will  be  more  tolerable 
for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  which  trampled  the  law 
under  foot,  than  it  will  be  for  Capernaum  which 
rejected  the  Gospel.  Mr.  Cotton  says,  "  If  you  do 
not  feel  pain  and  distress,  you  never  will  call  upon 
God  as  you  should;  "  and  he  sought  in  his  preaching 
to  produce  this  pain  and  distress  by  telling  his 
people  the  whole  truth  about  future  retribution. 
But  he  did  it  kindly  and  tenderly  and  with  tears  in 
his  voice,  as  every  preacher  should. 

Mr.  Cotton  at  the  close  of  one  of  his  sermons  to 
the  young  made  a  very  powerful  appeal  to  fear. 
"Your  souls,"  said  he,  "may  perish,  and  the  guilt 
of  blood  will  lie  upon  us.  If  we  preach  only 
smooth  things  to  you  and  do  not  set  the  terrors  of 
the  Lord  and  his  wrath  before  you,  and  let  you 
hear  but  little  or  nothing  of  a  damnation  that  slum- 
bers not,  we  shall  dreadfully  hazard  the  salvation 
of  our  own  souls,  and  your  blood  may  be  required 
at  our  hands.  How  awfully  tremendous  it  will  be 
if  occasion  should  be  given  to  any  of  you  hereafter 
to  say,  I  might  have  escaped  these  torments  I  now 
must  forever  feel  if  I  had  been  faithfully  warned  of 
my  danger.  I  had  little  or  no  warning  either  from 
my  parents  or  ministers  of  the  danger  of  coming 
into  such  a  place  of  torment,  nor  were  there 
proper  motives  and  arguments  used  with  me  to 
work  upon  my  hopes  or  upon  my  fears.  Oh  that 
I  had  been  more  earnestly  persuaded  to  fly  from 


122  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

this  wrath!  My  soul  is  lost, 'tis  lost  and  undone 
forever,  because  I  was  not  faithfully  dealt  with  by 
those  who  were  sent  of  God  to  counsel  and  warn 
me.  Oh  that  you  had  been  more  earnest  with  me! 
You  knew  the  devil  was  doing  all  he  could  to  ruin 
me,  and  you  saw  me  going  down  to  these  cham- 
bers of  death.  Alas,  that  you  did  not  warn  me 
again  and  again  that  I  might  not  come  to  this 
dreadful  place!  Finally,  if  the  word  we  speak  to 
you  becomes  a  savor  of  death  unto  death,  and  we 
are  a  means  of  aggravating  your  condemnation, 
how  grievous  to  your  ministers  and  parents  this  is. 
Why  will  you  then  so  grieve  and  break  our  hearts.'* 
Why  will  you  thus  requite  us  for  all  our  care  and 
pains  for  the  salvation  of  your  precious  souls? 
But  I  must  have  done  speaking  to  you,  but  how 
loth  am  I  to  leave  speaking  until  I  have  prevailed 
with  you  to  become  the  children  of  God.  God  is 
my  record  how  greatly  I  long  after  you  all  in  the 
bowels  of  Jesus  Christ.  O  Almighty  Spirit  of 
grace,  do  thou  come  down  and  breathe  upon  our 
children  and  young  people!  Make  the  calls  that 
have  been  given  to  them  effectual,  and  thy  free  and 
sovereign  grace  shall  have  the  praise  of  it." 

This  kind  of  preaching  was  very  effective.  Gil- 
bert Tennent  preached  in  this  way  here  in  1741, 
and  Dr.  Homer  thinks  that  the  revival  of  that  year 
in  this  place  began  with  his  preaching.  White- 
field  preached  in  this  way,  and  the  fact  that  he  was 
invited  here  twice,  once  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Cotton 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  1 23 

and  once  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Meriam,  shows  that 
both  the  church  and  its  ministers  believed  in  such 
preaching. 

But,  of  course,  retribution  was  not  the  onl}: 
thing  that  these  men  preached.  As  Mr.  Hobart 
said,  God  warned  Noah  that  a  flood  was  coming 
in  order  to  move  him  to  build  an  ark,  and  so,  said 
he,  we  warn  men  of  future  retribution  that  we  may 
move  them  to  fly  to  Christ  for  safety.  Retribution 
and  vicarious  atonement  were  preached  both  to- 
gether. Christ  had  borne  the  curse  of  the  law  for 
us,  and  the  law  was  a  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to 
him.  The  preacher  with  his  views  of  Christ  as  an 
Almighty  Saviour  and  friend  of  sinners,  a  hiding 
place  from  the  wind  and  a  covert  from  the  tempest, 
could  calm  every  fear,  and  let  in  the  light  of  hope 
upon  the  darkest  shades  of  despair,  wherever  there 
was  true  sorrow  for  sin. 

Hence  I  remark  in  conclusion, 

5.  Their  views  of  Christ  as  an  all-sufficient 
Saviour  -prepared  them  for  the  bed  of  death,  and 
enabled  them  to  triumph  over  the  last  enemy.  It 
gave  them  not  only  the  calmness  of  faith  but  the 
victory  of  faith  in  that  solemn  hour  when  they 
heard  God  saying  unto  them,  ''  This  day  thou  shalt 
pass  over  Jordan."  This  truth  was  illustrated  in 
the  precious  words  spoken  by  Mr.  Eliot  in  the 
closing  hours  of  his  life. 

It  being  said  to  him,  "  Sir,  your  crown  is  even 
ready    for    you;"    to    which    he    answered,    "My 


124  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

crown  is  ready:  Christ  hath  been  a  great  while 
preparing  a  mansion  for  me,  to  which  I  am  now 
going.  Oh,  what  a  solemn  thing  it  is  to  appear 
before  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  be  the  judge  of  all 
the  world!  who  appeared  to  John  in  the  Revela- 
tion with  eyes  as  a  flame  of  fire  and  his  feet  of 
fine  brass;  yet  as  he  took  John  by  his  right  hand 
and  not  by  his  left,  so  will  he  take  me  by  my 
right  hand  and  not  by  my  left,  and  present  me 
before  the  Father,  and  the  Father  will  receive  me, 
and  the  Son,  the  mediator  of  the  covenant,  will 
receive  me,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  will  receive  me, 
even  me,  a  worm,  that  lie  here  spitting^  in  such  a 
condition,  when  yet  Christ  will  kiss  me  with  the 
kisses  of  his  mouth,  and  I  shall  kiss  him  and  not 
be  despised.  Oh,  wonder  of  mercy!  that  Christ 
should  love  such  a  worm  as  I  am,  that  can  love 
him  but  a  little,  yet  do  love  him  with  all  my  soul. 
Oh,  what  a  wonder  of  mercy,  that  this  little  soul 
of  mine  should  enjoy  such  blessedness,  that  am  so 
unworthy  of  it!  I  could  put  myself  under  a  dung- 
hill, I  am  so  vile  in  myself;  yet  in  the  robes  of  my 
Saviour,  those  glorious  robes  of  Christ's  righteous- 
ness, how  beautiful!  how  comely!  how  glorious! 
Glory!  Glory!  Glory!  and  if  I  had  strength,  I  could 
even  do  as  Abraham  did,  fall  upon  my  face,  and 
laugh  in  sense  of  Christ's  love  to  me;  and  blessed 
be  God,  I  have  done  it  many  a  time  in  my  study; 
many  a  time  have  I  fallen  upon  my  face  in  sense 

'  This  word  refers  to  the  hemorrhage  from  his  lungs. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  1 25 

of  Christ's  love  to  me;  many  a  time  have  I  supped 
with  Christ  in  m}'  study,  and  many  a  time  hath 
Christ  supped  with  me  there,  and  as  Paul  said, 
thanks  be  to  God,  who  always  gives  us  cause  to 
triumph  in  Christ,  in  him  I  do  triumph  and  will 
triumph,  though  vile  in  myself;  yet  as  Christ  saith, 
I  have  loved  thee  with  an  everlasting  love,  therefore 
with  loving  kindness  have  I  drawn  thee ;  therefore 
as  Christ  saith,  look  to  me  and  be  saved  all  3''e  of 
the  earth;  and  I  do  look  to  him,  and  shall  be 
saved.  And  these  things  have  I  preached,  accord- 
ing to  the  narrowness  that  words  could  express, 
and  some  have  received  them,  and  I  have  heard  it 
from  them,  and  others  have  done  as  they  have 
done." 

His  mother  said  to  him,  "  You  have  enjoyed  too 
much  of  heaven  here  to  live  long  here;  you  are 
now  going  to  your  brother  Samuel,  and  to  your 
dear  wife ; "  and  he  answered,  "  Oh,  to  m}'  dear 
Saviour!  to  my  dear  Saviour!  and  I  shall  go  to  the 
old  patriarchs,  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  I 
shall  go  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect, 
and  have  communion  with  them,  though  I  know 
not  in  what  way  and  manner."^ 

These  are  the  ""  penetrating  things "  which 
Cotton  Mather  said  could  come  from  none  but 
one  on  the  borders  and  confines  of  eternal  glory. 
Here  was  a  knowledge  of  the  love  that  passeth 
knowledge,  a  man  filled  with  the  fulness  of  God, 

'  Congregational  Quarterly,  Vol.  VII.  p.  194. 


126  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

a  young  man  with  the  brightest  prospects  be- 
fore him  in  this  world,  loved  and  admired  by  all 
who  knew  him,  actually  exulting  in  the  knowledge 
that  he  should  so  soon  be  in  glor}'  with  One  whom 
he  loved  with  all  his  soul.  As  old  John  Trapp 
says,  "  He  goes  gallantly  into  heaven  with  sails 
and  flags  up  and  trumpets  sounding." 

Truly  the  Lord  has  loved  this  church.  When 
it  was  weak  and  small,  he  loved  it,  and  gave  it  a 
pastor  after  his  own  heart,  one  whose  name  was 
John,  and  who,  like  the  beloved  John,  reclined 
upon  the  bosom  of  Jesus. 

What  a  legacy  of  blessing  to  this  church  through 
all  its  generations  have  been  the  piety  and  devotion 
of  its  early  ministers  and  members!  They  did  not 
live  unto  themselves  nor  die  unto  themselves.  As 
God  blessed  Israel  for  Abraham's  sake,  so  has  he 
blessed  this  church  for  the  fathers'  sake.  He  kept 
it  true  to  the  faith  when  waves  of  error  were  dash- 
ing around  it,  and  he  has  made  it  a  fountain  from 
which  streams  of  gracious  influence  have  gfone 
forth  in  every  direction. 

Let  us  go  forward  with  the  work  which  the 
fathers  began.  We  are  entered  into  their  labors. 
They  laid  the  foundation,  which  is  Jesus  Christ; 
we  build  upon  it.  If  what  we  build  is  as  fair  and 
comely  as  the  foundation  is  strong,  then  the  day 
will  come  when  we  all  shall  rejoice  together. 

Gratefully  we  look  back  over  the  long  stretch  of 
time  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep.     Goodness  and 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  1 27 

mercy  have  followed  us  hitherto,  and  surely 
goodness  and  mercy  shall  follow  us  to  the  end. 
Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us,  and  he  will  help 
us  in  the  future,  for  Zion  is  engraven  upon  the  palms 
of  his  hands.  B}/  the  services  of  this  day  we  raise 
our  grateful  memorial  to  his  praise,  and  say,  O 
God  of  our  fathers,  send  thy  blessing  upon  this 
dear  church  in  the  future  as  thou  hast  in  the  past, 
and  still  more  abundantly,  like  the  dew  of  Hermon 
and  like  the  dew  that  descended  upon  the  moun- 
tains of  Zion,  and  here  may  the  Lord  command  his 
blessing,  even  life  forevermore. 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL    ANNIVERSARY 
EXERCISES. 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  ANNIVERSARY 
EXERCISES. 


The  exercises  of  the  ^Sundny-school,  in  connection  with 
the  Two  Hundred  and  Twenty-fiftli  Anniversary  of  the  Church, 
were  held  on  the  afternoon  of  Sunda}',  October  6,  at  3  P.M., 
in  the  church.  Former  superintendents  sat  upon  an  elevated 
platform  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  the  school  occupying  pews  in 
the  main  body  of  the  house,  the  younger  children  in  the  front 
seats.  The  exercises  were  simple  in  their  character,  consist- 
ing of  singing,  prayer,  responsive  readings,  and  addresses  by 
Rev.  William  H.  Cobb  and  Rev.  George  M.  Boynton,  D.D., 
both  of  Newton  Centre.  There  was  also  a  paper  on  the 
"History  of  the  Sunday-school,"  read  by  the  Superintendent, 
Samuel  Ward,  which  had  been  prepared  at  the  request  of  the 
teachers,  by  Mrs.  E.  G.  A.  Lane.  A  pleasant  feature  of 
the  occasion  was  the  following  "  Historical  Catechism,"  the 
questions  being  put  by  the  Superintendent,  and  the  answers 
given  b}'^  the  children  of  the  primary  department  and  some  of 
the  younger  children  from  the  main  school,  specially  trained 
for  the  occasion. 

1.  What  is  the  name  of  our  church?    First  Church,  Newton, 

2.  When  was  it  formed.''     1664. 

3.  How  many  years  ago.''     Two  hundred  and  twenty-five. 

4.  With  how  many  members.''     Eighty. 

5.  Newton  was   at   that  time  a  part  of  what   town?     Cam- 

bridge. 

6.  What  was  it  then  called?     Cambridge  Village. 

7.  Afterward  what?     New  Cambridge. 

8.  The    name    was  subsequently   changed    from  New  Cam- 

bridge to  New  what?     New  Town  and  then  Newton. 


132  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

9.     Where  was   the    first  meeting-house   built?     In  the  old 
burying-ground,  Centre  Street. 

10.  The   second  meeting-house?     On  the  other  side  of  the 

street,  near  where  the  house  of  Mrs.   Gardner  Colby 
now  stands. 

11.  The  third?     On  the  spot  where  we  are  now  gathered. 

12.  The  fourth?     On  the  same  spot. 

13.  Our   present   meeting-house,  the    fifth,  which   has  been 

twice  enlarged,  was  built  in  what  year?      1847. 

14.  In  the  two   hundred   and   twenty-five  years  how   many 

pastors  has  this  church  had?     Nine. 

15.  What  was  the  name  of  the  first  pastor?    John  Eliot,  Jr. 

16.  What  relation  to  John  Eliot,   the    "Apostle   to  the  In- 

dians "?     His  son. 

17.  What  was  the  name  of  the  second  pastor?     Nehemiah 

Hobart. 

18.  The  third?     John  Cotton. 

19.  The  fourth?     Jonas  Meriam. 
30.     The  fifth  ?     Jonathan  Homer. 

21.  How  many  years  was  he  pastor?     Fifty-seven. 

22.  What  was  the  name  of  the  sixth  pastor?     James  Bates. 

23.  The  seventh?     William  Bushnell. 

24.  The  eighth?     Daniel  L.  Furber. 

25.  The  ninth?     Theodore  J.  Holmes. 

26.  How  many  of  these  pastoi^s  are  still  living?     Two. 

27.  How  many  buried  in  the  old  burying-ground?     Five. 

28.  When  was  the  Sunday-school  started?     1816. 

29.  How  many  years  ago  ?     Seventy-three. 

30.  Where?     In  a  little  red  school-house  on  Homer  Street. 

31.  By  whom?     Miss  Mary  Clark. 

32.  With  how  many  scholars?     About  twenty. 

33.  Who  was  the  first  superintendent?   Deacon  Elijah  Wood- 

ward. 

34.  For  how  many  years?     Neai'ly  thirty. 

35.  How  many  superintendents  since  then?     Sixteen. 

36.  What  is  the  grand  object  of  this  Sunday-school,  church, 

and  organizations  connected  therewith?    The  glory  of 
God  and  the  welf^ire  of  men. 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     EXERCISES.  1 33 


ADDRESS   OF   REV.    W.    H.    COBB,   NEWTON  CENTRE. 

I  am  desired  to  speak  ten  minutes  in  answer  to  the  question, 
"  What  did  young  people  and  children  do  before  Sunday- 
schools  were  known.? "  They  studied  the  Assembly's  Shorter 
Catechism.  Here  is  one  that  is  eighty-three  years  old.  Here 
is  another  one  that  looks  a  good  deal  newer,  but  only  because 
it  has  been  newly  bound.  It  was  published  in  1765,  and  is 
forty-one  years  older  than  the  other.  You  cannot  always 
judge  a  book,  any  more  than  a  child,  by  the  outside  ap- 
pearance. It  is  called  "  Shorter,"  because  there  was  one  that 
was  longer ;  but  the  children  thought  it  was  long  enough 
before  they  mastered  its  one  hundred  and  seven  questions  and 
answers.  Several  of  the  answei's  are  longer  than  the  one 
which  I  will  read  to  you:  "The  sinfulness  of  that  estate 
whereinto  man  fell,  consists  in  the  guilt  of  Adam's  first  sin, 
the  want  of  original  righteousness,  and  the  corruption  of  his 
whole  nature,  which  is  commonly  called  Original  Sin,  to- 
gether with  all  actual  transgressions  which  proceed  from  it." 

I  don't  wonder  that  a  little  girl  said  one  time,  "  Mother,  this 
catechism  is  too  hard  for  me  ;  there  ought  to  be  a  kittychism 
for  little  children."  Well,  there  was ;  it  was  called  the  New 
England  Primer.  Here  it  is.  "  Who  was  the  first  man.?  "  — 
"Adam."  —  "  Who  was  the  first  woman.?"  —  "Eve."  Here 
are  pictures  that  some  of  you  have  probably  seen.  One  of  them 
shows  our  first  parents  standing  by  the  tree,  with  a  serpent 
coiled  around  it.  "  In  Adam's  fall,  we  sinned  all."  The 
pictures  go  on  to  tell  us  that  "The  idle  fool  Is  whipped  at 
school."  "  Peter  denied  His  Lord  and  cried."  "  Zac-che-us, 
he  Did  climb  the  tree.  Our  Lord  to  see." 

It  was  a  very  great  change  when  Sunday-schools  were 
established,  —  a  great  change  for  the  better.  I  don't  believe 
with  those  who  say  that  things  used  to  be  better  in  the  old  times, 
and  that  children  were  better  brought  up  then  than  they  are 
now.  I  don't  believe  they  used  to  behave  any  better.  I  have 
in  my  hand  a  little  book  of  i-eminiscences  that  speaks  of  those 
times.  They  used  to  have  a  tithing-man  who  went  up  and 
down  the  aisles  keeping  children  still.     They  went  to  church, 


134  ^^^     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

to  be  sure,  but  they  had  to  have  a  man  to  keep  them  in  order. 
Between  the  services  of  the  morning  and  afternoon  the 
meeting-house  was  anything  but  quiet,  and  was  treated  any 
way  but  reverently.  This  book  speaks  of  the  galleries,  long, 
uncarpeted  stairs  leading  up  to  them  ;  and  of  what  a  noise 
there  was  from  the  children  constantly  racing  up  and  down. 
The  upper  galleries  were  invaded  by  children  w^ho  went  there 
to  eat  their  dinners,  and  made  great  confusion,  in  spite  of  the 
warning  glances  of  their  mothers  and  older  sisters  below.  I 
suppose  those  mothers  and  sisters  accused  the  fathers  and 
brothers  of  gossiping  in  the  horse-sheds  outside.  "  The  seats 
of  the  pews  were  hinged,  and  they  were  raised  up  at  prayer- 
time,  when  the  people  stood,  so  that  raising  them  and  letting 
them  fall  increased  the  racket."  The  writer  of  this  book  was 
very  glad  when  Sunday-schools  were  established,  for  that  had 
a  tendency  to  lessen  the  confusion. 

I  was  talking  yesterday  with  a  man  from  Andover,  who  is 
sorry  he  cannot  be  here  to-day.  He  remembers  the  old  white 
horse  of  Deacon  Woodward,  and  the  children  racing  about  in 
the  square  pews.  I  thought  this  might  be  the  very  church  the 
writer  had  in  mind,  that  was  so  much  benefited  by  the  in- 
troduction of  the  Sunday-school. 

In  the  days  of  the  Jews,  children  had  something  like  a  Sun- 
day-school, only  not  quite  the  same.  You  can  read  about  it 
in  the  eighth  chapter  of  Ezra.  It  shows  that  there  is  nothing 
new  under  the  sun.  If  you  should  ask  where  young  people 
went  in  the  evening,  in  the  olden  times  of  this  church,  I  should 
say  that  they  went  to  a  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian 
Endeavor.  They  didn't  call  it  by  that  name,  but  it  was 
almost  the  same  thing.  Nearly  two  hundi'ed  years  ago  in 
Boston  there  was  a  society  called  "The  Young  Men's 
Society."  Young  ladies  went;  but  they  did  not  take  a 
prominent  part,  as  they  do  now.  They  had  a  covenant  to 
watch  over  each  other  carefully.  They  agreed  to  take  reproofs 
kindly.  Once  in  two  months  they  had  a  meeting  entirely  de- 
voted to  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  the  young.  Once  in 
three  months  they  had  something  like  our  consecration 
meeting. 

Such  a  society  was  founded  in  this  church  in  1727.      Rev. 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     EXERCISES.  I35 

John  Cotton  preached  a  sermon  to  the  young  people  at  the 
time,  and  evexy  three  months  following  during  the  first  year. 
These  four  sermons  were  printed  in  a  book.  I  had  it  in  my 
hand  yesterday.  It  belongs  in  a  collection  of  books  that  no 
one  is  allowed  to  take  from  the  Boston  Public  Library  ex- 
cept for  binding  and  I'epairs.  It  was  printed,  according  to 
the  title-page,  in  "  Boston,  N.  E.  by  Gamaliel  Rogers  near  the 
Mill  Bridge,  for  John  Phillipps  at  the  Stationers  Arms  the 
next  shop  to  Mr.  Dolbear's  Brasier,  by  the  Town  Dock, 
1729." 

There  is  nothing  amusing,  I  assure  you,  about  the  contents 
of  those  discourses.  I  said  that  young  women  also  attended 
these  societies.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  what  Mr.  Cotton  says 
with  reference  to  them.  In  his  second  sermon,  from  the  text, 
"  Young  men  likewise  exhort  to  be  sober  minded,"  he  says, 
"  It  is  likewise  twice  used  in  the  directory  for  young  women, 
—  verse  4,  '  That  they  may  teach  the  young  women  to  be 
sober,'  and  again  in  verse  5,  '  That  they  may  teach  them  to  be 
discreet.'  So  that  it  is  the  duty  of  young  women  to  be  sober 
minded.  And,  therefore,  I  speak  this  to  all  the  young  people 
here  present." 

There  were  also  children  present  on  these  occasions.  At  the 
close  of  the  first  sermon  he  said,  "  My  dear  children,  if  you 
may  be  now  or  hereafter  by  the  grace  of  God  brought  into 
such  resolutions  for  a  holy  life,  by  my  ministry,  you  shall  be 
my  joy  and  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  day  of  Christ's 
appearing." 

And  now  let  me  close  with  a  few  words  from  the  end  of  the 
fourth  sermon,  showing  how  3'our  pastors  love  you  and  long 
for  your  salvation  :  "  Oh,  that  I  may  have  cause  to  say  in  the 
day  that  is  approaching,  '  Here  am  I,  Lord,  and  the  children 
which  were  begotten  to  me  in  my  ministry.'  " 

ADDRESS  OF  REV.  GEORGE  M.  BOYNTON,  D.D.,  NEWTON 

CENTRE. 

I  remember  a  few  years  ago,  when  I  was  pastor  of  a  church 
in  New  Jersey,  the  time  came  for  our  tenth  anniversary,  and 
we  thought  that  we  were  very  old.  I  remember  at  that  time 
asking  the  Sunday-school  scholars  how  many  of  them   were 


136  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

there  at  the  beginning  of  the  Sunday-school.  Almost  all  of  the 
children  between  the  ages  of  three  and  six  years  put  up  their 
hands.  I  doubt  whether  any  of  you  would  do  that  if  I  asked 
how  many  of  you  were  present  at  the  beginning  of  this  church, 
or  even  of  this  Sunday-school. 

Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  !  That  seems  a  long 
time  ago.  You  haven't  got  to  be  immensely  old,  any  of  you, 
to  be  a  quarter  as  old  as  1  am.  I  am  not  a  quarter  as  old  as 
this  church,  venerable  as  I  look. 

You  have  been  looking  and  thinking  backward.  For  this 
closing  moment  I  advise  you  to  turn  round  and  look  forward. 
Anniversary,  you  know,  means  turning  around,  —  the  turning 
of  the  year.  The  year  begins  in  January.  The  old  idea  was 
that  Janus,  the  Roman  deity  for  whom  the  month  was  named, 
had  two  faces,  one  looking  forward  and  one  looking  back- 
ward ;  if  this  is  January  for  this  church,  we  will  turn  round 
and  look  forward  and  not  backward  any  more.  What  ought 
we  to  think  about  especially  at  just  such  a  time  as  this.''  There 
are  two  thoughts  that  came  to  me  as  I  had  the  privilege  of 
hearing  the  sermon  this  morning  and  its  references  to  those 
who  have  done  good  work  in  the  past.  (I  felt  that  I  loved 
Deacon  Woodward,  of  whom  so  many  good  things  have  been 
said,  and  that  I  should  like  to  see  him.  Some  day,  perhaps, 
I  shall.  I  should  like  to  see  his  horse.  I  don't  suppose  I  shall 
do  that.  The  horse  seems  to  have  been  almost  as  good  as  the 
deacon.)  Our  looking  to  the  men  of  the  past,  whose  memory 
stands  out  in  the  history  of  this  church,  raises  the  question 
how  we  can  be  sure  that  somebody  will  remember  some  good 
thing  about  us.  We  can  make  that  sure  only  by  putting  our 
lives  into  good  work,  living  as  God  meant  us  to  live.  God  has 
arranged  this  world  so  that  people  who  do  good  shall  be  re- 
membered, —  remembered  lovingly,  kindly,  and  gratefully. 
Love  those  who  think  of  you  now.  Show  them  that  you  care 
for  them.  Be  loving,  kindly,  helpful  to  those  about  you.  That 
is  the  way  to  be  remembered. 

You  remember  that  King  David  had  one  son  who  was  a 
very  bad  young  man.  He  was  very  handsome  ;  he  had  long 
hair,  and  was  very  proud  of  it.  When  he  cut  it  in  the  spring, 
he  weighed  it  and  told  how  many  ounces  of  hair  he  grew,  as 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     EXERCISES.  1 37 

though  that  was  what  a  head  was  for.  But  he  became  proud. 
He  persuaded  a  portion  of  the  people  to  follow  him,  and 
attempted  to  take  away  the  kingdom  from  his  father.  He  built 
a  pillar  for  himself,  so  that  the  people  should  remember  him. 
They  called  it  "Absalom's  hand," — the  thing  that  pointed 
to  Absalom.  By  and  by  he  fought  against  his  father  to  get 
the  kingdom  for  himself.  His  head  was  caught  in  the  boughs 
of  an  oak,  the  mule  on  which  he  rode  went  out  from  under 
him  and  left  him  hanging  there.  By  and  by  three  arrows 
were  shot  through  his  heart.  Then  men  gave  him  a  fitting 
burial  for  one  who  had  turned  against  his  father.  They  put 
him  into  a  pit  and  covered  it  with  stones.  That  was  the 
monument  by  which  he  was  going  to  be  remembered,  the  pile 
of  stones  over  the  pit  where  he  was  buried.  If  we  are  going 
to  be  remembered  well,  it  must  be  by  doing  things  that  are 
right,  in  accordance  with  God's  will,  for  those  things  are  going 
to  stand. 

I  was  thinking,  while  I  heard  the  names  of  the  prominent 
people  in  the  church,  who  were  well  known,  who  occupied 
conspicuous  places,  about  the  great  multitude  of  those  who 
were  members  of  the  church  and  the  Sunday-school,  who  were 
not  known  very  much.  They  did  good  faithfully  in  their  places. 
Although  their  names  are  not  known  here,  they  are  written  on 
the  roll  of  honor  up  there.  God  knows  the  names  of  the  hum- 
ble, simple  people  who  loved  this  church,  just  as  well  as  he 
knows  the  names  of  the  ministers  of  Christ  who  were 
privileged  to  stand  up  and  preach  the  gospel  before  all  the 
people. 

A  great  deal  better  thing  to  ask  about  than  how  to  be  remem- 
bered well  is,  how  we  shall  do  something  that  shall  last.  The 
question  is  not  how  we  shall  do  something  that  shall  be  remem- 
bered, or  that  shall  make  us  to  be  remembered,  but  what  we 
can  do  that  shall  itself  endure.  I  will  tell  you.  B}'^  building 
our  lives  into  God's  kingdom.  That  is  the  only  thing  that  is 
going  to  last.  We  may  put  ourselves  into  the  history  of  our 
country,  and  this  country  is  going  to  be  remembered.  We  may 
put  ourselves  into  the  hearts  of  our  fellow-men.  If  we  live 
our  lives  so  as  to  build  up  God's  kingdom,  our  work  will  last. 
By  and  by,  when  everything  else  is  done  away,  and  nothing 


138  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

remains  but  the  kingdom  of  God,  our  work,  too,  will  remain, 
because  it  has  been  built  into  that  kingdom.  If  we  would  be 
remembered  well,  it  must  be  by  doing  something  worthy  of 
being  remembered.  For,  whatever  our  work  may  be,  if  we 
would  have  it  endure,  we  must  build  our  lives  into  Christ's 
kingdom.  For  the  oldest  and  the  youngest  of  us,  I  know  no 
better  lesson  that  we  can  learn  from  this  anniversary. 

HISTORICAL   ADDRESS   BY   MRS.    E.    G.   A.    LANE. 

Read  by  the  Supei'intendent. 

Coleridge  tells  us  that  "Christianity  is  not  a  theory  or 
a  speculation,  but  a  life ;  not  a  philosophy  of  life,  but  a 
life  and  a  living  process."  We  have  turned  aside  for  a  brief 
season  from  our  busy  cares  to  commune  with  the  life  of  the 
past,  as  seen  in  this  church  and  Sabbath-school,  and  "  inquire 
of  the  former  age,"  that  we  may  "prepare  ourselves  by  the 
search  of  the  fathers  "  with  an  incentive  to  nobler  work  and  a 
richer  growth.  While  we  "  remember  the  former  things  of 
old,"  let  us  realize  that  we  too  in  our  turn  are  making  the 
history  of  to-day  ;  let  us  catch  the  clarion  note  of  time  which 
calls  us  to  the  imperative  duties  of  the  present,  for 

"  Future  or  Past  no  richer  secret  folds, 
O  friendless  Present !  than  thy  bosom  holds." 

Seventy-three  years  ago,  the  first  Sabbath-school  in  New- 
ton was  commenced  in  this,  the  "  First  Parish,"  by  Miss 
Mary  Clark,  in  the  su miner  of  1S16.  At  first  she  was  the 
only  teacher,  but  was  occasionally  assisted  by  Mrs.  Dr. 
Homer,  the  pastor's  wife,  and  shortly  after  was  joined  by 
Miss  A.  Haven,  then  teacher  of  the  district  school  in  New- 
ton Centre  ;  and  the  next  summer  she  and  Miss  S.  Mitchell, 
who  resided  in  the  vicinity,  undertook  to  classify  and  teach 
the  girls  attending  the  Sabbath-school,  and  were  much  en- 
couraged in  their  work  by  the  growth  of  numbers  and  in- 
terest. The  only  male  teachers  who  assisted  thein  in  the 
earliest  years  were  Deacon  E.  F.  Woodward,  who  lived  in 
what  is  known  as  the  old   Woodward  house,  at  what  is  now 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     EXERCISES.  1 39 

Newton  Highlands,  near  the  Eliot  raih-oad  station,  and  Hon. 
William  Jackson,  who  lived  at  Newton  Corner,  and  who 
taught  the  boys.  The  school  was  held  in  the  old  red  school- 
house,  known  as  the  "  sand-bank  school-house,"  which  stood 
on  the  triangular  piece  of  land  at  the  junction  of  what  is  now 
Homer  and  Grafton  streets.  It  was  located  on  a  steep,  sandy 
hill  which  has  since  been  levelled,  and  as  the  children  climbed 
it  every  day  to  school,  it  became  for  some  of  them  a  "  Hill 
Difficulty "  in  more  senses  than  one.  For  several  years  the 
Sunday-school  was  held  only  in  the  summer,  as  was  customary 
among  the  few  Sunday-schools  which  had  already  been 
established  in  country  parishes ;  for  a  school  for  teaching 
children  on  the  Sabbath  day  was  still  a  great  innovation,  — the 
first  one  in  the  State,  and  possibly  the  first  one  in  New  Eng- 
land, having  been  started  in  1810,  in  Beverly,  followed  by 
the  first  one  in  Boston  in  i Si 2.  So  that  the  old  First  Church 
of  Newton  was  among  the  earliest  to  fall  into  line  in  seeking 
for  the  best  things  of  the  Kingdom,  —  "  And  one  did  say  I  am 
the  Lord's ;  and  another  did  call  himself  by  the  name  of 
Jacob  ;  and  another  did  subscribe  with  his  hand  unto  the  Lord 
and  surname  himself  with  the  name  of  Israel." 

This  Sabbath-school  may  be  regarded  as  a  "  mother  in 
Israel,"  for  other  Sabbath-schools  owe  their  existence  to  it. 
The  one  connected  with  the  Congregational  Church,  West 
Newton,  begun  in  1819,  did  not  receive  encouragement  at  first 
from  their  pastor.  Father  Greenough,  as  he  regarded  it  as  too 
much  of  a  "  new  departure,"  but  said  he  "  would  see  how  the 
thing  worked  in  Brother  Homer's  church  at  the  Centre,"  which, 
having  been  started  in  1816,  was  already  three  years  old. 

While  the  Sabbath-school  is  an  "  infant  of  days,"  as  com- 
pared with  the  age  of  this  ancient  church,  yet  the  good  that 
has  been  wrought  out  under  its  administration  cannot  be 
reckoned  for  the  abundance  of  its  harvest.  A  celebrated 
writer  asserts:  "An  illusion  haunts  us  that  a  long  duration, 
as  a  year,  a  decade,  a  century,  is  valuable  ;  but  an  old  French 
sentence  says,  '  God  works  in  moments.' "  And  the  most 
ancient  poem  in  the  world  tells  us  :  "  For  we  are  but  of  yes- 
terday and  know  nothing,  because  our  days  upon  earth  are  a 
shadow." 


140  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Owing  to  the  paucity  of  the  church  records,  and  the  loss  of 
the  only  private  manuscript  which  could  have  thrown  any 
light  upon  it,  we  have  little  or  no  data  of  the  history  of  this 
school  at  its  inception  ;  we  can  only  rely,  therefore,  upon  the 
personal  reminiscences  of  some  of  its  first  pupils,  who  are  still 
vv^ith  us,  and  from  whose  lips  the  following  incidents  have  been 
gleaned :  — 

Miss  Hannah  Loring  entered  the  school  the  second  Sunday 
of  its  opening,  in  the  summer  of  1S16  ;  her  sister,  Miss  Mary, 
entered  the  second  year,  with  others  who  are  still  among  us. 
It  was  held  directly  after  the  morning  service,  as  it  is  now, 
and  has  been  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of  six  months  in 
1875,  when  the  afternoon  church-service  having  been  given  up, 
it  was  held  in  its  place.  The  only  books  used  in  the  school 
at  the  first  were  the  Bible  and  Shorter  Catechism.  Miss 
Clark  always  opened  the  school  with  prayer,  then  each  child 
recited  verses  from  the  Bible,  after  which  the  teacher  read  a 
chapter  and  closed  with  prayer.  Later  on  they  used  the  New 
England  Primer,  and  recited  hymns  which  were  taken  princi- 
pally from  Mrs.  Barbauld's  collection.  In  181 7,  beside  the 
Bible  and  Catechism,  *'  Cummings'  Questions  "  were  used,  and 
some  of  the  older  scholars  studied  "Watts  on  the  Improve- 
ment of  the  Mind."  His  hymns  also,  under  the  head  of 
"  Watts'  Divine  Songs  for  Children,"  were  used  in  later  years. 
At  the  close  of  the  school  this  year  several  Bibles  and  other 
books  were  distributed,  with  cards  or  certificates  as  rewards  of 
merit,  among  the  scholars.  Miss  Hannah  Loring  received  a 
Bible  for  learning  the  greatest  number  of  verses  during  the 
three  months'  session.  She  learned  the  first  eight  chapters  of 
St.  John.  The  amount  of  Bible  verses  learned  in  those  early 
days  and  recited  at  one  sitting  was  something  incredible.  One 
scholar.  Miss  Emily  Woodward,  recited  at  one  time  540  verses, 
at  another  400,  at  another  300  ;  and  one  who  received  one  of 
the  Bibles  recited  560. 

In  the  parish  were  a  number  of  families  who  wanted  their 
children  to  go  to  the  school,  but  were  too  poor  to  buy 
clothing ;  so  Mrs.  Loring,  the  mother  of  Miss  Hannah  and 
Miss  Mary,  took  her  horse  and  went  around  with  one  of  the 
teachers    soliciting    money    for    clothes.     They    raised    fifteen 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     EXERCISES.  I4I 

dollars,  which  was  used  for  this  purpose.  Then  the  ladies 
were  afraid  that  if  the  garments  were  given  to  the  children  to 
keep  they  would  not  last  long,  so  they  were  kept  at  the  school- 
house,  the  children  going  for  them  Saturday  afternoon  and 
returning  them  Monday  morning.  That  plan  did  not  work 
well,  however,  the  parents  being  dissatisfied;  and  so  the 
clothing  was  given  into  their  keeping.  During  the  second 
year  a  certain  kind  of  reward  of  merit  was  given  out,  called 
"  medals."  They  were  large  cards,  about  the  size  of  a  cor- 
respondence card,  on  which  was  printed,  "  For  good  conduct 
and  good  lessons."  These  were  tied  with  bows  of  blue  ribbon 
and  hung  around  the  neck,  to  be  worn  conspicuously  upon  the 
breast.  They  were  never  given  to  the  children  to  keep,  and 
were  only  allowed  to  be  worn  that  one  Sabbath  day,  then  re- 
turned to  the  teacher  the  following  Sunda}'.  An  amusing  in- 
cident occurred  in  connection  with  one  of  these.  The  children 
of  the  Sabbath-school  were  expected  to  sit  in  the  galleries, 
each  class  by  itself,  headed  by  their  teacher.  Miss  Hannah 
and  Miss  Mary  Loring  had  won  these  reward  medals  during 
the  nooning  at  the  school,  and  wore  them  in  pride  around  their 
necks  in  the  afternoon  service.  While  sitting  in  the  gallery, 
they  were  very  anxious  that  their  father  in  his  pew  below 
should  know  how  they  had  been  honored  ;  so  they  leaned  for- 
ward and  contrived  to  have  their  white  medals  hang  over  the 
edge  of  the  gallery  rail.  At  last  they  succeeded  in  catching 
their  father's  eye,  but  only  to  see  him  raise  his  right  forefinger, 
which  he  shook  solemnl}'  at  them.  On  reaching  home  after 
church  he  called  them  into  a  room  alone  with  him,  and  told 
them  if  they  ever  did  such  a  thing  in  church  again  he  would 
surely  punish  them  ;  such  was  the  strictness  with  which  a 
proper  decorum  was  insisted  upon  from  children  in  the  house 
of  God. 

For  the  first  year  or  two  the  school  had  no  superintendent ; 
the  number  was  small,  probably  not  more  than  fifteen  or 
twenty  in  all.  In  1817  there  were  only  nine  boys  in  the 
school,  two  of  whom  were  Otis  Trowbridge,  nine  years  old, 
and  Ebenezer  Woodward,  six  years  old.  These  two  boys  be- 
came the  first  deacons  in  Eliot  Church,  Newton.  But  as  the 
attendance  increased,  and  the  school  grew  to  be  no  longer  an 


142  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN    NEWTON. 

experiment,  but  a  pei'manent  service,  it  was  thought  best  to 
have  a  superintendent,  and  Deacon  E.  F.  Woodward  was  called 
to  fill  that  position.  Mr.  William  Jackson  held  a  Bible  class 
for  young  men  in  the  little  vestry  that  stood  where  the  horse- 
sheds  now  stand,  and  Mr,  Joseph  Goddard  and  Mr.  Increase 
Sumner  Davis  joined  the  slim  corps  of  male  teachers.  Deacon 
Woodward  continued  superintendent  until  his  death  in  1846 
(with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  years,  when  his  place  was 
filled  by  Deacon  William  Jackson),  thus  covering  a  period 
of  nearly  thirty  years. 

From  Dr.  Smith's  "  History  of  Newton  "  we  learn  that  Rev. 
James  Bates,  who  was  pastor  of  this  church  from  1S27  to 
1839,  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  introduce  singing  into 
the  Sabbath-school.  The  "  Boston  Recorder,"  a  newspaper  of 
that  day,  said  he  was  unwearied  in  the  care  of  the  Sunday  and 
other  schools  ;  and  Newton  owes  much  to  his  efficiency  in  con- 
nection with  the  Sabbath-school.  There  were  no  Sunday- 
school  singing-books,  such  as  have  since  multiplied  in  the  land, 
and  the  children  had  to  use  the  same  psalm-tunes  that  were  used 
in  the  church.  But  Deacon  Woodward  was  greatly  interested 
in  having  singing  in  the  school,  and  he  had  some  of  the  tunes 
printed  on  sheets  of  paper  and  distributed  among  the  scholars  ; 
while,  busy  farmer  that  he  was,  he  would  leave  his  work,  even 
in  the  midst  of  haying,  and  come  to  the  church  every  week  to 
meet  the  children  and  teach  them  to  sing.  This  good  man 
was  also  deacon  of  the  church  from  June  11,  1815,  till  his 
death,  thus  filling  the  offices  of  superintendent,  deacon,  and 
leader  of  the  choir  for  over  thirty  years. 

This  earnest  Christian  worker  was  ready  to  do  the  lowliest 
work  for  the  Master.  Whatever  was  peculiarly  hard,  and 
therefore  neglected  by  others,  he  made  his  own  personal  care. 
He  labored  in  the  Sabbath-school  with  poor  "  Tillo,"  the 
colored  footman  of  General  Hull,  trying  with  infinite  patience  to 
open  before  him  the  way  of  salvation,  that  he  might  at  least 
taste  a  few  crumbs  of  the  bread  of  life.  Thus  he  went  on  his 
quiet  way,  —  "In  much  patience,  in  labors  more  abundant, 
as  unknown  and  yet  well  known." 

The  Sunday-school  continued  to  be  held  in  the  old  school- 
house  some  ten  or  fifteen  years,  till  it  was  removed   to   the 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     EXERCISES.  143 

church,  the  vestry  being  too  small  to  receive  it,  and  from  this 
time  its  sessions  were  continued  in  the  winter  months  as  well 
as  the  summer,  the  number  of  classes  having  largely  increased. 
The  names  of  some  of  these  early  teachers  have  been  handed 
down  to  us,  and  are  as  follows :  Miss  Abagail  Hall  (Mason) , 
Miss  Alice  Everett,  Miss  Julia  Whittemore  (Bridges),  Mrs. 
Goddard,  Miss  Emeline  Whittemore  (Bridges),  Miss  Caroline 

Bennett  ( ),  Miss  Sarah  Jackson  (Tappan),  Miss  Susannah 

Davenport ;  and  a  little  later  were  Miss  Mary  A.  Childs, 
Miss  Mary  Ann  Hoyt,  Miss  Beulah  Childs,  Miss  Marion 
Jackson  (Gilbert),  Miss  Clarissa  Goodhue,  Miss  Lucretia 
Jackson  (Williams),  Miss  Elizabeth  Bacon  (Trowbridge), 
Mrs.  Beulah  Bacon  (Pulsifer),  Miss  Mary  Randall,  Miss  E.  C. 
Stevens,  Miss  Hannah  Jackson  (Fuller),  Miss  Julia  Cheney 
(Cheney),  Miss  Mary  Hyde  (Bigelow),  Miss  Elizabeth  Small- 
wood  (Sampson),  Miss  Ruth  Goodhue  (Bailey),  Miss  Mary 
Ann  Homer  (Kingsbury),  Miss  Harriet  Homer  (Kingsbury), 
Miss  Mary  Ann  Goddard  (Day). 

Among  the  later  male  teachers  besides  those  already  named 
were  Deacon  Asa  Cook,  Messrs.  Zuinglius  Grover,  Otis 
Trowbridge,  J.  N.  Bacon,  Isaac,  Benjamin,  and  Charles 
Kingsbury,  and  R.  W.  Turner.  Of  the  original  founders  of 
this  Sabbath- school,  and  of  many  of  these  workers  for  Christ 
in  his  vineyai'd,  we  now  know  only  the  names  as  inscribed  on 
the  roll  of  this  church  ;  but  we  know  them  as  "  teachers  of  the 
Gentiles  in  faith  and  verity ;  "  we  may  speak  of  their  labors  as 
"  ministries  that  never  end  ;  "  they  were  builders  with  God,  — 
workmen  that  needed  not  to  be  ashamed,  —  and  of  them  it  may 
be  said  :  "  These  are  the  former  years  ;  these  were  the  potters 
and  those  that  dwelt  among  plants  and  hedges  ;  there  they 
dwelt  with  the  King  for  His  work."  They  have  passed  on  out 
of  our  sight,  but  "are  they  not  on  the  other  side  Jordan,  by 
the  way  where  the  sun  goeth  down  ?  "  And  if  we  could  look 
across,  should  we  not  see  them  still  with  the  King,  but  "  rest- 
ing from  their  labors,  while  their  works  do  follow  them." 

The  list  of  superintendents  can  be  more  accurately  ascer- 
tained, and  is  as  follows  :  Deacons  Woodward  and  Jackson 
were  succeeded  by  R.  W.  Turner,  Luther  Paul,  Bartholomew 
Wood,  John  Ward,  Albert  Little,  J.  F.  C.  Hyde,  I.  F.  Kings- 


144  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

bury,  Charles  S.  Davis,  E.  W.  Noyes,  Nelson  Curtis,  E.  W. 
Noyes  (reelected),  Reuel  W.  Waters,  S.  F.  Wilkins,  George  P. 
Davis,  Rev.  Charles  A.  Kingsbury,  and  the  present  superinten- 
dent, Samuel  Ward.  This,  as  far  as  known,  is  a  complete  list 
of  all  the  superintendents,  in  the  order  of  their  succession. 

Of  the  attendance,  there  are  no  known  records  previous  to 
1838  ;  and  even  after  this  date  they  are  of  the  most  meagre 
character.  It  is  a  curious  but  interesting  fact  that  the  member- 
ship of  the  Bible  class  exceeded  that  of  the  whole  school  for 
the  first  few  years ;  but  it  probably  included  all  of  the  adult 
portion,  the  children  forming  the  remainder  of  the  school. 
The  largest  attendance  during  any  one  year  was  in  1877,  when 
the  average  was  181  for  the  year.  The  smallest  was  in  1854, 
when  the  church  was  undergoing  repairs,  and  the  school  met 
in  the  Baptist  church  ;  attendance,  62. 

The  additions  to  the  church  from  the  school  have  been  con- 
tinuous and  steadily  increasing.  At  times  of  deep  religious 
interest  there  have  been  as  many  as  thirty  conversions  in  a 
single  winter. 

Up  to  1858  there  was  no  primary  department,  and  the  school 
all  met  in  the  church,  and  used  a  variety  of  question-books  in 
the  different  classes.  The  superintendent,  Mr.  Little,  was  very 
anxious  that  the  lessons  should  be  uniform,  and,  in  accordance 
with  a  vote  of  the  school,  on  October  3,  1858,  one  question-book 
was  adopted  for  all  the  school,  except  the  three  younger  classes. 
In  June  of  the  same  year  the  youngest  classes  went  into  the 
vestry,  thus  forming  the  nucleus  around  which  our  infant-school 
has  since  gathered. 

December  25,  1859,  there  was  singing  by  the  children,  for 
the  first  time  at  a  Sabbath-school  concert,  with  piano  ac- 
companiment. Mrs.  Little,  the  wife  of  the  superintendent, 
assisted  at  first  by  Miss  Lee  (now  Mrs.  Dr.  Eben  Tourjee), 
and  afterwards  by  Mr.  Francis  H.  Kingsbui-y,  met  and  taught 
the  children  once  a  week,  using  the  "  Oriola."  From  Deacon 
Little's  private  notes  we  glean  the  above  and  the  following 
facts  :  — 

At  one  time  Testaments  were  offered  to  those  bringing  in 
new  scholars ;  but  only  two  are  i^eported  as  having  been 
presented.     At  another  time  Bibles  were  offered  by  Superin- 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     EXERCISES.  I45 

tendent  John  Ward  to  all  who  would  commit  to  memory  the 
"  Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism,"  and  a  considerable  num- 
ber were  given  to  various  boys  and  girls.  At  another  time 
"  Father  Cook,"  gate-keeper  at  the  Boston  and  Albany  sta- 
tion, and  afterwards  associated  with  the  Pine  Farm  School, 
offered  two  Bibles  to  those  wdio  committed  the  largest  number 
of  Bible  verses  in  three  months,  —  one  to  the  girls,  the  other 
to  the  boys.  Harriet  S.  Cousens  and  Harriet  Kingsbury  each 
committed  1,500  verses;  Samuel  Ward,  1,050;  and  Charles 
Turner,  1,004.  For  several  years  about  this  time  there  was  a 
custom  prevailing  of  changing  the  session  of  the  Sunday- 
school  on  communion  Sabbaths  into  a  pi'ayer-meeting  for  the 
school,  which  was  greatly  blessed  in  its  results. 

Teachers'  meetings  were  held  at  private  houses  after  the 
adoption  of  a  uniform  question-book  ;  but,  after  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  International  Series  in  1872,  they  were  held  in  the 
vestry  for  a  number  of  years,  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Whitney,  who  was  succeeded,  in  1877,  by  Rev.  A.  E.  Law- 
rence. The  following  year  it  was  made  a  union  teachers' 
meeting,  and  held  first  in  White's  block,  but  subsequently 
adjourned  to  the  Baptist  vestry,  and  conducted  by  Professor 
Gould. 

During  all  these  years  the  regular  session  of  the  Sunday- 
school,  either  for  Bible  study  or  as  a  prayer-meeting,  had 
never  been  omitted,  save  with  a  single  exception.  That 
was  in  January,  1S79,  when,  after  a  stirring  sermon  by  Dr. 
Furber,  on  practical  benevolence,  school  and  congi-egation  re- 
solved themselves  into  an  impromptu  committee  of  the  whole, 
and,  in  little  less  than  an  hour  after  Dr.  Furber's  presentation  of 
the  subject,  the  church  debt  of  $3,000  was  all  subscribed  for, 
thus  lifting  a  load  from  the  church  which  had  become  a  heavy 
burden.  The  history  of  this  Sabbath-school  would  be  in- 
complete without  a  reference  to  Mrs.  Furber's  Bible-class,  and 
Mrs.  Ashton's  work  in  the  primary  department  as  its  superin- 
tendent and  teacher.  Mrs.  Furber  had  for  many  years  the 
largest  Bible-class  of  ladies  that  has  ever  been  gathered  in  this 
school.  Space  would  utterly  fail  to  tell  of  her  remarkable 
work  in  that  class,  and  its  results.  Some  brief  hints  of  it  may 
be  found    in  Dr.    Wellman's    "Memorial"  of  her ;    but    the 


146  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

narrative  in  its  full  details  will  only  be  found  in  that  "  Book  of 
Remembrance  "  which  is  kept  of  such  lives  and  service  as 
hers.  Neither  can  justice  be  done  to  Mrs.  Ashton's  work 
in  the  primary  department.  From  a  feeble  beginning  she 
brought  it  up  to  a  large  attendance  of  over  sixty,  with  a  corps 
of  efficient  and  well-trained  teachers.  No  Sabbath  passed 
that  she  did  not  personally  instruct  the  whole  school.  Her 
influence  was  magnetic  over  the  youngest  and  dullest  there, 
and  her  presence  and  cooperation  were  an  inspiration  and  en- 
couragement to  the  superintendent  of  the  large  school.  Truly, 
"  many  daughters  have  done  virtuously,  but  these  excelled 
them  all." 

This  school  has  not  been  without  representatives  from  its 
ranks  in  the  work  of  missions,  both  at  home  and  in  the  foreign 
field.  We  have  only  time  for  a  passing  glance  at  those  who 
have  carried  the  standard  of  the  Lord  into  the  dark  places  of 
the  earth.  Mrs.  Harriet  N.  Childs  (Mead),  Miss  Alice  E. 
Clarke,  Mrs.  Bertha  Robertson  (Roper),  Miss  Lena  Linde- 
mann,  and  Miss  Sarah  L.  Smith.  Of  these,  two  are  workers  in 
the  foreign  field  ;  the  others  have  labored  among  the  colored 
people  and  the  poor  whites  at  the  South,  and  the  Indians  in 
Dakota. 

To  the  workers  of  to-day  the  history  of  this  school  seems 
pregnant  with  divinest  import.  Our  fellow-workmen  have 
gone  on  before,  leaving  in  our  hands  this  legacy  of  labor  as 
their  mantle  in  departing,  and  showing  us  that,  in  striving  for 
happiness,  we  shall  find  that  which  is  higher, — blessedness! 
Cheering  and  pleasant  as  is  this  backward  look  into  the  past, 
we  may  not  sit  down  satisfied  with  what  has  already  been  ac- 
complished. Rather  let  it  be  an  inspiration  to  us  to  "  leave 
the  low-vaulted  past,"  and  build  with  care  befitting  our  special 
needs  in  the  domain  of  to-day,  for  is  not  the  promise  still  with 
us  that  "  the  glory  of  this  latter  house  shall  be  greater  than  of 
the  former"?  If  "  Christianity  is  a  life,"  it  is  also  a  growth, 
a  development,  its  force  is  cumulative,  — we  cannot  rest  in  the 
achievements  that  lie  behind  us.  The  fruits  which  nature  so 
lavishly  brings  to  our  autumnal  garnering,  the  nuts,  slow 
dropping  on  the  breezy  hill,  give  no  hint,  no  token,  of  other 
fruitage   that  has   ripened   and  fallen  into  the  vintage  of  the 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     EXERCISES.  I47 

past.  Each  renewed  harvest  is  its  own  sweet  miracle.  This 
of  to-day  is  separate,  individual,  —  is  given  of  God  for  our 
present  opportunity  ;  "•  to-day  is  a  king  in  disguise."  Let  us 
honor  the  least  command  of  the  Royal  Visitant,  for 

"  This  passing  moment  is  an  edifice 
Which  the  Omnipotent  cannot  rebuild." 


NOTE. 

The  following  are  the  teachers  in  the  Sunday-school  at  the  present  time  :  — 

Samuel  Ward,  Superintendent;  Rev.  William  IT.  Cobb,  S.  C.  Hunter,  Miss 
Alice  Holmes,  Mrs.  George  M.  Boynton,  James  Cutler,  Mrs.  Eliza  G.  A.  Lane, 
Reuel  W.  Waters,  Miss  Mary  P.  Sylvester,  D.  S.  Farnham,  E.  W.  Noyes,  George 
Holmes,  A.  L.  Harwood,  J.  M.  E.  Drake,  Geo.  P.  Davis,  Miss  Sarah  Holmes, 
Miss  Annie  C.  Ward,  Mrs.  S.  A.  Sylvester,  Miss  Eva  Ransom,  Miss  Lucy 
Goodridge,  S.  F.  Wilkins,  Mrs.  F.  E.  Banfield,  Miss  Emma  Ransom,  Langdon 
S.  Ward.     The  primary  department  is  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Samuel  W^ard. 


HISTORICAL    DISCOURSE, 

PREACHED    ON   SUNDAY   EVENING,    OCTOBER    b. 


The    Reverend    Theodore   J.   Holmes, 

Pastor  of  the   Church. 


HISTORICAL    DISCOURSE. 


DR.  FURBER'S  discourse  this  morning  re- 
lated more  particularly  to  the  ministers  of 
our  church  in  the  past,  —  their  doctrine,  their 
character  as  men,  and  the  fruits  of  their  work. 

I  am  to-night  to  follow  along  the  same  general 
line,  but  referring  more  especially  to  the  meeting- 
houses of  the  past,  and  what  has  gathered  about 
them  in  the  life  of  our  church. 

To  help  your  patience,  I  will,  without  any  pref- 
ace, begin  at  once  at  this  point. 

We  would  like  a  picture  of  our  earliest  meeting- 
house ;  but  it  was  before  the  day  of  photographs, 
and  skill  with  the  pencil  or  brush  was  less  com- 
mon than  now;  some  one,  though,  would  have  at- 
tempted a  sketch  could  it  have  been  realized  how 
much  it  would  be  prized  in  after  generations.  As 
it  is,  we  have  to  depend  upon  the  representations 
which  we  have  of  other  meeting-houses  of  that 
period. 

We  have  a  drawing  of  the  First  Church  in  Bos- 
ton, which  was  built  in  1632,  —  a  plain,  two-story 
structure,  with  a  thatched  roof,  looking  very  much 
like  a  country  barn. 

The  little  old   church   in  Salem,  behind  the  Es- 


152  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

sex  Institute,  the  frame  of  which  belonged  to  the 
original  building,  erected  in  1634,  is  an  interesting 
relic.  Its  barrenness  is  sufficiently  puritanical. 
Its  size,  17  feet  by  20,  seems  very  small  even  for 
that  day  when  people  were  so  few. 

Almost  as  old  is  the  venerable  meeting-house 
at  Hingham,  which  stands  to-day  substantially  as 
it  was  built  in  1681,  the  oldest  church  edifice  in 
use,  it  is  said,  on  the  continent. 

In  this  we  are  surprised  at  its  larger  dimensions 
and  its  more  attractive  architecture,  which  make  it 
suitable,  even  yet,  as  a  place  of  worship. 

An  idea  of  the  interior  of  these  buildings  is 
given  by  several  of  the  most  ancient  meeting- 
houses of  Boston ;  as,  Christ  Church,  in  Salem 
street,  which  is,  in  form,  as  it  was  built  in  1723; 
the  Old  South,  erected  in  1729,  and  King's  Chapel, 
in    1754. 

As  to  the  First  Church  of  Newton,  we  know, 
in  general,  that  we  have  had  five  meeting-houses, 
erected  successively  in  1660,  1698,  1721,  1805, 
and  1847.  The  first  was  on  the  site  indicated  by 
the  monument  in  the  old  cemetery  in  Centre  street; 
the  second,  on  the  other  side  of  the  street,  almost 
directly  opposite.  The  location  of  the  third  was 
determined  after  considerable  difficulty.  In  17 13 
the  authorities  of  Newton  appointed  a  committee 
"To  measure  the  town  and  find  its  centre  and  se- 
lect a  place  for  the  Meeting  House."  If  the 
people    could    not   agree    peaceably,    they    would 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  153 

apply  to  the  Honorable  General  Court  to  do  it,  and 
abide  by  their  decision.  The  result  was  the  selec- 
tion of  the  site  where  this  present  church  stands; 
though  as  to  its  being  exactly  the  centre,  our 
modern  maps  do  not  agree  with  the  surveyors  of 
a  century  and  a  half  ago. 

Of  the  first  two  buildings  little  is  known;  but  of 
the  third  and  fourth  we  may  learn  something,  from 
references  to  them  in  the  town  and  parish  rec- 
ords, in  connection  with  what  we  know  of  other 
communities  of  that  da}^ 

With  regard  to  their  seating  arrangements,  it 
seems  to  be  understood  by  those  who  have  given 
the  matter  most  study  that  the  facts  were  in  gen- 
eral these:  In  the  beginning,  people  sat  on  long 
benches,  to  which,  probably,  they  had  been  used 
in  England.  After  a  time,  certain  individuals  re- 
quested and  were  allowed  the  privilege  of  building 
pews  at  their  own  expense,  for  their  private  use, 
upon  which  they  paid  a  yearly  rental.  For  example, 
in  1752  the  town  voted  "That  Henry  Gibbs  Esq., 
have  liberty  to  Build  A  Pew  in  the  south  West 
Corner  of  the  Meeting  House,  where  the  Boys 
seets  are  and  that  he  Enjoy  it  during  the  Town's 
Pleasure,  paying  three  pounds  a  year  old  Tenor 
and  when  the  Town  shall  Disalow  him  the  Enjoy- 
ment thereof,  to  repay  him  for  Building  the  same." 
Mr.  Hobart,  the  second  minister,  built  such  a  pew, 
and  after  his  death  it  was  given  back  to  the  town 
by  his  daughter  Abigail. 


154  ^^^^     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Here  is  a  minute  from  the  parish  records  of 
1779,  which  gives  some  further  details  about  such 
rentals:  "Voted  that  the  two  hind  seats  in  the 
Body  of  the  house  be  taken  up:  and  so  much  of 
the  third  seat  as  is  necessary  to  make  Room  to  get 
into  the  middle  pew,  and  six  Pews  be  built  at  the 
cost  and  charge  of  particular  men :  they  paying  so 
much  pr  year  into  the  Precinct  Treasur}',  for  the 
said  spots,  During  the  Precinct's  Pleasure;  and 
that  this  Previlidge  be  granted  to  such  men  as  will 
give  most  for  said  spots  at  a  publick  Vendue."  It 
was  further  agreed  "that  the  conditions  of  sail  be 
as  follows:  viz. 

"  I      That  they  be  sold  for  Indian  corn: 

"  2  That  said  corn  be  Delivered  to  the  Precinct 
Treasurer,  yearly. 

"  3  That  one  half  peck  of  corn  be  called  a 
bid." 

At  the  sale,  "  the  first  spot  south  of  the  Broad 
Alley  was  struck  off  to  Eliphalet  Robbins,  for 
sixteen  pecks;"  and   so  with  all. 

Some  people  paid  their  rent  in  money,  as  ap- 
pears from  a  record  like  this  in  the  parish  treas- 
urer's book  :  "  Received  of  Mrs.  Ann  Eddy, 
one  pound,  twelve  shillings,  for  the  use  of  a  pew 
spot,  in  the  Meeting  House,  four  years."  Cer- 
tainly a  moderate  charge.  But  those  who  had 
not  money  were  allowed  to  pay  in  produce, 
especially  in  corn;  and  such  revenue,  as  it  accu- 
mulated, was  sold  at  auction   every  spring.     This 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  155 

continued  till  1797,  after  which  payment  was  in 
money. 

The  settlement  of  dues  was  enforced  by  the 
authorities,  as  in  this  order  of  1702:  "If  any  per- 
sons have  not  paid  Mr.  Hobart,  the  Select  men 
shall  g-ive  the  Constable  warrants  to  brin^  them 
that  are  delinquent  to  a  reckoning  with  Mr.  Hobart 
and  cause  them,  forthwith,  to  pay  it  in."  Yet 
judgment  was  mixed  with  mercy,  for  at  another 
time  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  parish  were 
instructed  "  to  confer  with  Collectors,  Relative  to 
their  Makeing  Distress  upon  any  Person  or  Persons 
who  may  be  delinquent  in  paying  their  taxes." 

The  practice  of  adding  pews  from  time  to  time, 
at  the  expense  sometimes  of  individuals,  and  some- 
times of  the  town,  seems  to  explain  this  minute, 
which  is  common  in  the  old  records:  Voted,  "To 
choose  a  Committee  to  till  up  vaquent  Room  in 
the  Meeting  House."  With  all  the  votes  to  that 
etiect  that  were  passed  year  after  year,  it  is  a 
mystery  why,  after  a  while,  the  meeting-house 
did  not  get  hlled  up. 

We  do  not  cease  wondering  at  the  old  fact  that 
seats  used  to  be  assigned  b}'  a  committee  appointed 
for  the  purpose.  This  was  true,  probably,  even  of 
the  original  benches.  People  sat,  not  where  the}'- 
pleased,  but  where  it  pleased  the  committee. 
When  the  pew  spots  were  introduced,  nobody 
could  buy  a  particular  one  unless  it  suited  his 
station.     When   our   second   church    was    built,   it 


156  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

was  voted  that  "  age  and  gifts  given  to  the  building 
of  the  Meeting  House  should  be  the  rules  the 
Commity  should  go  by  in  seateing  the  House." 
This  is  the  reference  in  all  records  about  dignifying 
the  seats.  As  this:  Voted,  "  That  the  hind  seat  in 
the  lower  Frunt  Galler}^  be  conveniently  Built  up, 
something  Resembling  a  pew."  Voted,  further, 
"That  the  Commity  shall  dignyfie  the  new  Seat;  " 
the  note  being  added,  afterwards,  "  The  Dignit}' 
of  the  New  Pew,  in  the  Front  Gallery  being  read 
to  the  Town,  it  was  accepted." 

It  seems  strange  that  so  much  of  aristocracy 
should  have  come  into  the  Puritan  system;  but  it 
belonged  to  the  age.  It  is  a  suggestive  fact,  in  this 
connection,  that  the  Catalogue  of  Harvard  College, 
during  the  first  hundred  years  and  more  of  its  his- 
tory, printed  the  names  of  its  members  in  the  order 
of  their  family  station;  it  was  not  till  1773,  in 
Revolutionary  days,  that  they  were  arranged  alpha- 
betically; which  shows  that  social  distinction  was 
a  feature  of  the  time,  and  naturally  found  its  way 
into  the  Church.  Moreover,  for  that  matter,  it 
may  be  asked  whether  in  our  day  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  dignifying  the  seats  in  the  meeting- 
house. 

Another  thing  in  the  old  order  at  which  we 
marvel,  is  the  fact  that  families  were  not  seated 
together.  This  may  not  apply  as  fully  to  those 
who  owned  the  square  pews  as  to  others. 

Men   were  separated   from  women,  and  parents 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  157 

from  children,  though  girls  were  sometimes  allowed 
to  sit  with  their  mothers. 

As  for  the  boys,  they  were  treated  as  a  separate 
order  of  beings,  and  were  set  carefully  by  them- 
selves. 

Such  arrangement  appears  in  town  records  like 
the  following:  — 

Voted,  "  That  the  Selectmen  be  a  Committee  to 
agree  with  Workmen  to  Erect  one  Tear  of  Pews 
in  the  Hind  Seats  on  the  Men's  Side  and  the 
Women's   Side,  as  soon  as  may  be." 

Again,  "  That  the  vacant  roome  on  the  East  and 
North  side  of  the  Meeting  House  is  granted  for  the 
seting  up  of  pews  for  woman  and  children,  but  it 
shall  not  be  sold  to  a  stranger." 

Also,  "  That  seats  for  the  boys  shall  be  made 
from  ye  west  dore  of  the  Mtg  Hse  to  the  nor 
west  corner."  Seats  for  the  boys!  Why  for 
them  especially,  can  any  one  tell  ?  One  object  of 
having  them  together  seems  to  have  been  to  serve 
the  convenience  of  the  tithing-man.  It  was  as- 
sumed that  they  would  need  his  attention,  and  it 
would  be  handier  for  him  to  have  them  within 
reach  of  his  rod;  though  sometimes,  even  with 
such  advantage,  he  did  not  succeed  in  managing 
them  very  well. 

On  a  certain  Sunday,  when  Dr.  Homer  was 
preaching,  the  boys,  penned  in  one  of  the  square 
gallery  pews,  with  its  lofty  sides,  seemed  remark- 
ably quiet,  and,  upon  investigation,  it  was  discov- 


158  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

ered  that  they  were  playing  cards.  That  was  not 
very  becoming,  certainly;  but  the  blame  of  it  lay, 
mainly,  with  the  fathers  and  mothers  who  shut 
them  off  by  themselves. 

A  warrant  for  a  parish  meeting  had  this  item: 
"  To  Consider,  How  to  restrain  boys  from  playing 
on  the  Sabbath  and  especially  during  divine 
services." 

It  seems  to  have  been  understood  that  boys 
were  enemies  to  all  that  was  good,  and  must  be 
treated  accordingly.  The  wonder  is  that  enough 
of  them  grew  up  straight  to  keep  the  church  in 
existence. 

Boys!  Why,  in  our  time  they  are  among  the 
very  stanchest  friends  of  religion.  They  have  as 
much  self-respect,  as  real  a  sense  of  honor,  as  high 
an  instinct  of  decorum,  as  any  of  us.  Most  of  the 
boys  in  our  congregation  —  and  probably  this  is  true 
of  the  community  —  want  it  to  be  understood  that 
they  are  on  the  side  of  Christ  and  the  Bible.  It  is 
quite  exceptional  for  one  of  them  to  set  himself 
resolutely  against  the  influences  of  religion.  They 
are  our  best  hope  —  they  and  the  girls  —  for  the 
perpetuity  of  the  Christian  Church  in  Newton. 

Such  general  arrangement,  in  these  various  par- 
ticulars, continued  till  1800,  when  it  was  voted  by 
the  parish,  "To  disannul  the  present  establishment 
of  the  Pews  in  the  Meeting  House,  relative  to  the 
ancient  mode  of  seating  them."  And  this  was, 
probably,  in  view  of  the  question  just  then  being 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  159 

agitated,  of  the  new  meeting-house,  which  was 
erected  in    1805. 

Here  we  come  to  more  familiar  ground.  We 
know  about  that  building,  inasmuch  as  it  stood  till 
1847,  and  many  among  us  remember  it  distinctly 
as  an  old  friend. 

We  are  much  indebted  for  two  sketches  of  its 
exterior,  on  opposite  sides,  which  have  been  made 
from  memor}'  by  Miss  Sarah  Freeman  Clarke  and 
Miss  Harriet  Woodward.  They  give  us  so  pleas- 
ant an  impression  of  the  old  building  that  we  can 
understand  the  feeling  which  many  had  strongly, 
in  1847,  that  it  was  too  good  to  tear  down. 

The  interior  we  are  able  to  imagine  quite  defi- 
nitely, with  the  aid  of  those  who  remember  it. 

There,  at  the  west  end,  was  the  high  pulpit  with 
the  sounding-board  overhead,  and  the  window  be- 
hind, draped  with  a  red  damask  curtain,  veritable 
pieces  of  which  are  among  our  anniversary  memo- 
rials. On  each  side  of  the  pulpit  were  six  pews,  that 
were  seats  of  honor,  and  were  all  occupied.  We 
hope  sometime  to  see  these  seats  in  our  present 
house  dignified  and  filled,  or,  as  the  old  word  used 
to  be,  "  improved."  In  the  middle  of  the  house  the 
pews  were  arranged  much  as  we  have  them  now, 
except  that  they  were  higher  and  were  shut  in  by 
doors.  On  each  side  of  the  building  were  six  square 
pews  against  the  wall.  The  north  gallery,  with 
twelve  pews,  was  assigned  to  students,  —  the  front 
rows  to  the  Newton  Female  Academy,  and  the  rest 


l6o  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

to  Master  Rice's  school.  The  south  gallery  was  oc- 
cupied largely  by  the  boys,  and  at  one  time  at 
least  by  Sunda3^-school  classes,  who  used  to  sit  up- 
stairs with  their  teachers,  a  record  being  kept,  per- 
haps, of  their  attendance,  as  was  common  in  some 
other  places. 

At  the  east  end  the  gallery  was  devoted  to  the 
choir,  the  seats  being  arranged  in  a  semicircle  and 
affording  ample  accommodation  for  the  orchestra 
and  chorus. 

There  was  a  curtain  in  front  of  the  choir,  drawn 
together  when  they  sang,  hiding  all  but  their  heads; 
a  device,  perhaps,  to  relieve  their  embarrassment 
when  the  congregation  turned  about  and  looked 
them  in  the  face,  especially  during  the  closing 
hymn. 

Above  this  gallery  was  a  third  tier  of  seats,  in 
one  corner  or  both,  devoted  to  the  colored  people. 

The  meeting-house  had  a  stove.  Some  com- 
munities enjoyed  this  luxury  from  the  beginning, 
though  it  did  not  always  afford  unmixed  satisfac- 
tion. Judge  Sewall's  Diary  says  of  a  Sunday  in 
1686,  in  the  First  Church  in  Boston:  "By  reason 
of  the  Fires  the  Meeting  Hse  is  much  filled  with 
smoke ; "  and  of  another  Sunday,  "  This  day  so  cold 
that  the  Sacramental  Bread  is  frozen  pretty  hard, 
and  rattles  sadly  as  it  is  broken  into  the  plates." 
What  must  it  have  been  in  our  old  meeting-houses 
when,  all  the  winter  long,  there  was  not  even  a 
smoky  fire  to  break  the  bitter  cold? 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  l6l 

Toward  the  close  of  the  last  centiir}^  it  began  to 
be  asked  whether  there  might  not  be,  consistently 
with  the  sanctity  of  the  Lord's  house,  some  reform 
in  this  matter;  but  the  suggestion  was  not  generally 
approved.  At  length,  Lieut.  John  Rogers  offered 
to  furnish  a  stove  for  one  year,  without  cost  to  the 
congregation;  if  at  the  end  of  that  time  the}'  did 
not  like  it,  it  could  be  returned  to  the  owner. 
They  were  beguiled  into  trying  the  experiment. 
The  parish  voted,  "  That  the  committee  place  a 
stove  at  the  right  hand  of  the  broad  alley  in  the 
Women's  Body  of  Seats,  and  carry  the  pipe  out  in 
such  direction  as  they  shall  think  proper."  After  a 
3'ear's  trial  they  voted  to  purchase  the  stove;  four 
year's  later  they  bought  another,  which  was  prob- 
ably, at  tirst,  set  in  the  vestibule,  and  afterwards 
was  brought  inside.  The  chief  way  of  supplement- 
ing this  poor  provision  for  winter  was,  we  know, 
the  noon-houses,  to  which  many  repaired  between 
the  services  to  eat  their  lunch.  We  should  be 
grateful  to  some  one  who  would  make  a  sketch 
of  this  institution,  which  must  have  seemed  to  those 
who  enjo3'ed  its  blessing  a  very  beam  of  sunshine 
in  their  bleak,  hard  Sabbath. 

These  are  some  of  the  things  which  we  are  able 
to  learn  about  the  old  meeting-houses,  their  style 
without,  and  particularly  their  arrangement  within. 
It  is  of  interest  to  inquire,  further,  regarding  the  use 
that  was  made  of  these  buildings  on  Sunday  and 
during  the   week;    their   services   of  worship   and 


l62  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

of  work,  as  compared  with  our  own  of  the  present 
day. 

I.  The  services  of  religious  worship  have 
changed  almost  as  much  during  the  past  two  cen- 
turies as  the  meeting-house  itself. 

One  thifig  which  would  impress  us,  if  we  could 
go  back  to  the  early  days,  would  be  the  reverence 
paid  to  the  Sabbath.  The  rigid  laws  guarding  its 
sanctity  were,  by  order  of  the  General  Court,  read 
in  every  congregation  at  least  twice  a  year. 

In  Boston,  one  Sabbath,  the  minister  confessed 
the  sins  of  some  people  who  had  fired  cannon  the 
evening  before.  Saturday  night  was  hallowed  time. 
And  more  than  that,  in  Salem,  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  Company  instructed  Captain  Endicott:  "To 
the  end  the  Sabbath  may  be  celebrated  in  a  religious 
manner,  we  appoint  that  all  that  inhabit  the  planta- 
tion both  for  the  general  and  particular  emplo}'- 
ments,  may  surcease  their  labor  ever}'  Saturday, 
throughout  the  year,  at  3  o'c.  in  the  afternoon, 
and  that  they  spend  the  rest  of  that  day  in  chate- 
chizing  and  preparing  for  the  Sabbath  as  the  min- 
isters shall  direct." 

Goodwin's  "  History  of  East  Hartford,  Conn.," 
says  the  laws  in  that  town  were  so  strict  that  a 
venerable  pastor.  Dr.  Williams,  could  not  travel  on 
Sunday  morning  to  a  neighboring  village,  for  an 
exchange,  without  first  having  obtained  a  pass  from 
the  magistrate. 

We  smile  at  the  narrowness  of  those  old  Puritans, 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  163 

but  we  have  to  remember  that  it  was  their  con- 
science, perpetuated  through  their  descendants,  that 
has  saved  for  us  what  we  have  left  of  the  Christian 
Sabbath. 

It  is  not  strange  that  with  such  convictions  attend- 
ance upon  religious  services  should  have  been  re- 
quired by  law.  Not  only  in  New  England,  either. 
Palfrey  says,  "Every  colonist  of  Virginia,  in  1610, 
was  required  to  attend  church  twice  every  Sunday." 
Even  meetings  less  sacred,  if  duly  appointed,  were 
compulsory.  In  Boston  a  prominent  citizen  was 
summoned  before  the  Council  and  sharply  reproved 
for  staying  at  home  on  Fast  Day;  he  was  required 
to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  or  go  to  prison. 

Such  strictness  gave  an  impulse  in  the  direction 
of  observing  public  worship,  which  lasted  for  gen- 
erations after  the  laws  were  annulled.  In  many 
New  England  towns,  old  people  remember  a  time 
when  everybody  went  to  church,  as  a  matter  of 
course  ;  especiall}',  it  seemed,  those  who  were 
farthest  off.  One  of  our  old  members  mentioned 
to  me  that,  when  young,  he  walked  to  church  from 
Chestnut  Hill  three  times  every  Sabbath,  with- 
out thinking,  either,  that  it  was  any  particular 
hardship. 

The  principal  services  of  public  worship  were 
then  in  the  morning  and  afternoon,  with  an  hour 
and  a  half  or  two  hours  of  intermission.  Consider- 
able emphasis  was  laid  upon  the  importance  of 
beginning  promptly. 


164  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Our  present  clock,  at  the  east  end  of  the  church, 
has  the  inscription:  "Made  and  given  by  John 
Rogers,  1764."  He  was  probably  the  father  of  the 
benefactor  who  introduced  the  first  stove. 

In  1805,  the  committee  for  the  new  building  were 
instructed  "  to  see  that  the  clock  is  repaired  in  a 
decent  manner,"  which  is  a  good  doctrine  for  any 
age,  that  it  is  decent  for  a  church  clock  to  tell  the 
truth.  It  seems,  however,  that  even  this  means  of 
grace  was  not  always  effectual,  for  the  church 
voted,  "That  Mr.  Homer  be  requested  to  begin 
Public  Service,  punctually,  at  the  time  prescribed, 
whether  there  be  more  than  one  person  or  not." 
They  had  found  by  experience  that  the  best  way 
to  get  people  to  come  promptly  was  not  to  wait  for 
them. 

The  order  of  worship  here,  in  the  beginning,  we 
cannot  know  definitel}',  but  we  infer  it  was  essen- 
tially like  that  described  in  other  old  churches 
near  us. 

In  "Plain  Dealing;  or.  News  from  New  Eng- 
land," b}^  Lechford,  published  in  1641,  there  is  a 
chapter  entitled  "  The  Publique  Worshipe,"  which 
gives  the  result  of  his  observation  in  the  congrega- 
tions of  this  vicinity. 

According  to  this,  the  people  were  called  to 
church  about  nine  o'clock  by  a  bell;  then  the  ser- 
vices were  simply  prayer,  reading  and  expounding 
the  Scripture,  singing  of  a  psalm,  the  sermon,  and 
closing  with  a  prayer  and  the  benediction. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  165 

These  services  were  repeated  in  the  afternoon, 
but  were  followed  by  several  other  exercises. 

The  ordinance  of  infant  baptism  was  admin- 
istered "  in  the  Deacon's  seate,  next  under  the 
Elders'  seate." 

Then  followed  the  contribution,  the  chief  fami- 
lies first  and  lesser  people  after  them  coming 
forward  and  bringing  their  gifts,  money  or  "  any 
other  chattle,"  and  laying  them  down  before  the 
deacons. 

Then  there  was  opportunity  for  the  admission  of 
members,  or  tor  settling  any  cases  of  discipline, 
after  which,  if  there  was  time,  they  sang  another 
psalm,  and  were  dismissed  with  prayer  and  bene- 
diction. 

Some  points  in  this  description  are  of  particular 
interest. 

The  elders  and  deacons  had  special  seats.  In 
one  of  the  cases  at  the  Old  South  Church,  Boston, 
is  the  plan  of  a  meeting-house  in  1730.  In  front 
of  the  pulpit  is  the  elders'  seat;  in  front  of  that, 
and  below,  the  deacons'  seat;  and  below  that  the 
congregation. 

Our  church  in  Newton  voted,  generously,  "  that 
the  deacons  shall  have  liberty  to  sit  out  of  the 
deacons'  seat  if  they  choose  it." 

In  the  old  Christ  Church,  Boston,  there  is,  in  the 
rear,  a  wardens'  pew,  which  is  still  occupied  by 
them  at  their  Sabbath   service. 

A  bell,  for  calling  people  to  church,  was  quite  a 


l66  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

common  institution.  Cambridge  had  one.  Per- 
haps the  more  usual  dependence  was  a  drum;  it  is 
strange  to  read  of  the  first  drum  and  the  second 
drum. 

In  Haverhill,  Mass.,  the  town  voted,  in  1650, 
"  that  Abraham  Tyler  blow  his  horn  half  an  hour 
before  meeting  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  on  lecture 
days,  and  receive  one  pound  of  pork,  annuall}', 
from  each  family." 

Reading  the  Bible  in  public  worship  was  not  a 
universal  practice.  Reading  without  comment  was 
called  "  dumb  reading." 

The  Second  Church  in  West  Newton  voted,  soon 
after  its  organization,  in  lySij^-that  a  portion  of 
the  Scriptures  be  read  in  public  on  each  part  of  the 
Lord's  day."  And  two  years  later,  Jackson  says 
that  "  Dr.  Homer  began  to  read  and  expound  the 
Holy  Scriptures." 

It  is  hard  for  us  to  imagine  a  time  when  this  was 
not  the  common  usage.  So  far  as  any  congregations 
objected  to  it,  they  did  so,  perhaps,  as  a  protest 
against  ritualism.  The  established  church  had 
much  of  Bible  reading,  therefore  they  would  have 
none,  just  as  they  let  out  their  conscience  in  the 
way  of  preaching;  as  non-contormists,  they  had 
been  forbidden  to  proclaim  the  gospel;  they  would 
see. 

An  hour-glass  was  their  measure  of  time.  Some- 
times it  stood  on  the  pulpit,  and  was  turned  by  the 
minister;    sometimes    on  a  table,  at   the    deacons' 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  167 

seat;  sometimes  it  was  in  charge  of  the  sexton. 
Judge  Sewall  writes  of  a  minister  whose  sermon 
lasted  two  hours  and  a  half.  Prayers,  too,  may  have 
served  the  same  purpose  of  protesting  against  the 
law  which  prohibited  them.  Often  they  were  long 
enough  to  hold  considerable  conscience.  People 
now  who  are  distressed  by  prayers  that  exceed 
five  minutes  would  not  have  made  good  Puritans. 
Rev.  Samuel  Torrey,  minister  of  Weymouth,  is 
spoken  of  as  having  possessed  remarkable  devo- 
tional gifts.  A  biographer  says,  "  At  a  public  fast 
in  1696,  after  the  other  exercises,  he  finished  by  a 
prayer  of  two  hours  in  length,  so  regular,  perti- 
nent, free,  lively,  affecting,  that,  towards  the  end, 
glancing  upon  some  new  scenes  of  thought,"  a 
lawyer  present  remarked,  "we  could  not  help  wish- 
ing him  to  enlarge  upon  them. "  It  is  to  be  hoped 
this  was  a  rare  exception,  but  it  indicated  the  dis- 
position of  the  ministers  to  use  their  liberty  in  this 
direction,  as  in  every  other. 

One  custom  connected  with  public  worship  came 
down  far  enough  to  be  within  the  recollection  of 
some  here  present.  You  remember  how,  during  the 
prayer,  the  seats,  being  hung  on  hinges,  were  raised 
to  allow  the  people  to  stand,  and  what  a  clatter  it 
made  at  the  close,  when  they  were  dropped  all  over 
the  house.  That  standing  in  the  service  must  have 
been  a  helpful  usage,  even  though  attended  with 
some  discomfort,  when  the  service  was  unduly  pro- 
tracted.     It   was   a  great    improvement   upon   the 


l68  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

habit  of  the  present  da}^,  when,  during  prayer,  many 
in  a  congregation  —  some  Christians  even,  it  is  said 
—  make  no  change  whatever  of  posture,  any  more 
than  they  would  at  a  lecture  or  an  exhibition. 

One  other  exercise  referred  to  by  Mr.  Lechford 
is  "  the  singing  of  a  Psalme."  That  opens  a  wide 
theme.  The  usage  of  the  early  churches  in  New 
England,  in  this  regard,  we  cannot  know  very  ac- 
curately; we  know,  at  least,  that  singing  was  con- 
fined to  the  metrical  versions  of  the  Psalms. 
Several  collections  of  these  were  in  use  in  the  Old 
Country,  two  of  which,  at  least,  were  at  the  be- 
ginning brought  to  New  England,  —  one  by  Stern- 
hold  and  Hopkins,  the  other  by  Ainsworth.  Both 
of  these  were  superseded,  in  1640,  by  the  "Bay 
Psalm  Book,"  —  a  work  prepared  by  several  minis- 
ters, among  whom  was  John  Eliot,  Sen.,  being  the 
first  or  second  book  printed  in  British  America. 
The  custom  of  lining  off  was  quite  universal  for  a 
time,  having  been  introduced  for  the  convenience 
of  those  who  could  not  read,  but  was,  after  a 
while,  considered  a  reflection  upon  the  intelligence 
of  the  people,  and  was  discontinued. 

There  was  such  a  lack  of  musical  science  in  the 
early  days,  this  part  of  public  worship  must  have 
been  a  questionable  help. 

Judge  Sewall,  who,  as  an  elder,  had  to  help  in 
setting  the  tunes,  tells  of  his  embarrassment,  on  a 
certain  Sabbath,  in  keeping  the  congregation 
straight.     "  I  set  '  York,'  and  in  the  second  going 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  169 

over,  the  gallery  carried  it,  irresistibly,  to  '  St. 
David's,'  which  discouraged  me  very  much."  One 
writer  of  that  day  was  sure  that  singing,  as  gen- 
erally practised,  was  a  clear  trespass  on  the  Third 
Commandment. 

When  books  with  new  music  were  proposed 
they  were  resisted  by  many,  who  seemed  to  think 
that  the  old  tunes  to  which  the  Psalms  had  always 
been  sung  were  as  inspired  as  the  Psalms  them- 
selves. Others  objected  that  the  tendency  of 
written  music  was  straight  towards  Poper}^  Ac- 
cordingly, in  order  to  keep  the  peace,  some  con- 
gregations would  sing  one  Sunday  by  rote,  and  the 
next  by  note,  to  keep  a  fair  average  and  suit  every- 
body. 

But  the  reform  could  not  be  held  back.  By  1720 
singing-schools  began,  and  choirs. 

Later,  Billings  began  to  write  hymns  on  the 
fugue  system,  which  had  been  practised  for  some 
time  in  England.  He  was  a  poor  tanner,  and,  it  is 
said,  marked  off  his  first  tunes  on  the  side  of  a 
house  while  he  was  orrinding-  bark  for  the  mill. 
His  music  has  been  severely  criticised,  and  others 
after  him  carried  it  to  even  greater  excess ;  but, 
on  the  whole,  he  did  good  in  stirring  the  land  on 
the  subject,  and  preparing  the  way  for  something 
better. 

In  our  church  records  the  first  reference  to  music 
is  in  1770,  when  it  was  voted  to  introduce  the  Ver- 
sion of  the  Psalms  by  Tate    and   Brady,  it  being 


170  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

further  ordered  that  "  a  medium  be  observed  be- 
tween old  and  new  tunes."  This  caution  in  the 
interest  of  peace  seems  to  have  been  effective,  for, 
nine  years  later,  at  a  parish  meeting,  the  moderator 
remarked  that  the  church  had  voted  that  "the 
method  we  had  lately  gone  on  with  regard  to  sing- 
ing was  agreeable  to  them,"  in  which  the  parish 
concurred.  Happy  is  the  church  that  is  able  to  put 
on  record  an  acknowledgment  like  that  ! 

In  1790  Tate  and  Brady  was  superseded  by  Dr. 
Watts'  Hymns,  and  these,  in  187 1,  by  the  "  Sabbath 
Hymn  and  Tune  Book,"  which  was  used  till,  a  few 
years  ago,  we  substituted  for  it  our  present  col- 
lection, "  Songs  of  Christian   Praise." 

In  the  early  days  no  musical  instrument  was 
used  except  the  pitch-pipe  for  giving  the  key,  and 
later  the  tuning-fork.  Then  came  the  bass-viol,  — 
the  church  fiddle,  as  profane  objectors  called  it, 
—  and  this  opened  the  door  for  other  instruments, — 
violins,  flutes,  clarinets,  and  so  forth,  —  till  two  gen- 
erations ago,  when  some  of  you  were  in  the  choir, 
there  had  come  to  be  quite  a  considerable  orchestra. 

Our  organ  here  is  a  venerable  institution,  having 
been  in  use  forty  years.  It  is  getting  rheumatic 
with  age,  but  will  have  to  do  service  a  while 
longer,  till  some  one  makes  us  a  present  of  a 
new  one.  Who  knows  but  some  friend  may  be 
moved  to  such  beneficence  by  the  inspiration  of 
this  anniversary. 

Since  the  old  days,  methods  of  sacred  song  have 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  171 

greatly  changed.  Our  modern  anthems,  Te  Deums, 
quartets,  responses,  and  solos  would  have  been 
thought,  a  century  ago,  an  abomination;  but  they 
do  not  seem  so  to  us.  They  may  be,  we  think, 
as  honest  as  any  performance  by  a  chorus  or  a 
congregation;  they  may  be  kept  as  free  from  all 
spirit  of  vain  repetition,  of  empty  form,  of  per- 
sonal display,  and  made  as  real  a  means  of  grace. 
With  such  conviction  we  welcome  them;  pray- 
ing that  we  may  all,  choir  and  congregation,  have 
a  mind  to  sing  "  with  the  spirit  and  with  the 
understanding,"  that  in  all  our  Sabbath  music 
we  may  be  worshipping  God  ''  in  spirit  and  in 
truth." 

The  other  point,  illustrating  the  use  made  of  the 
old  meeting-houses,  had  reference  to 

II.     Services  of  Christian  work. 

Without  disparaging  the  spirit  of  intelligent  labor 
which  marked  the  early  churches,  it  is  right  to  say 
that  they  seem  to  have  relied,  more  than  is  thought 
wise  now,  on  carnal  measures  for  advancing  the 
Lord's  kingdom. 

In  Boston,  a  public  executioner  burned  heretical 
books  in  the  market-place. 

They  shut  up  Sabbath-breakers  in  a  cage.  In 
Portsmouth  they  had  a  cage  for  those  who  went  to 
sleep  in  church. 

In  many  places  in  this  vicinity  there  was  the 
whipping-post,  in  front  of  the  school-house  or  the 
church.     One  day  a  Harvard  student  was  publicly 


172  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

flogged  for  swearing,  prayer  being  offered,  before 
and  after,  by  the  president. 

In  our  own  church  records  there  is  this  remark- 
able minute:  "  A  committee  appointed  to  examine 
the  church  stocks  "!  Jackson  says,  "  We  have  often 
eyed  that  remnant  of  the  Inquisition,  when  a  boy, 
with  a  shudder." 

But  as  the  Church  learned,  by  degrees,  to  distrust 
the  efficacy  of  such  means  for  establishing  the 
truth,  it  grew  away  from  them,  and  came  to  depend 
more  on  moral  forces. 

Some  departments  of  effort  familiar  to  us,  es- 
pecially those  in  the  line  of  reform,  they  did  not 
know  about.  In  Dr.  Homer's  day  Newton  had  a 
snuff'-mill  and  a  brewery.  In  1781  our  parish 
treasurer  made  this  minute :  "  Paid  thirty  pound 
for  half  a  cord  of  wood  and  one  Barrel  of  Beer, 
provided  at  the  funeral  of  our  late  Pasture,  the 
Reverend   Mr.  Merriam." 

In  the  records  of  the  committee  appointed  to 
build  the  meeting-house,  in  1805,  we  find  this  vote  : 
"  That  Captain  Joshua  Hammond  be  requested  to 
purchase  one  barrel  Rum  and  one  barrel  sugar,  and 
to  take  care  of  the  same  for  the  use  of  the  carpen- 
ters." Still,  from  the  beginning  there  was  some 
sentiment  in  the  direction  of  temperance.  The  best 
people,  when  they  saw  the  truth,  were  ready  to  do 
it.  In  fact.  Dr.  Smith  states  that  "  the  first  petition 
presented  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  for 
the    regulation  of  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors, 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  1 73 

is  the  petition  of  Rev.  Jno.  Eliot  in  1648."  He 
begged  that  the  Indians  might  be  protected  against 
the  temptations  to  drink  put  in  their  way  when 
they  went  into  the  cit}^  So  that  is  an  old  ques- 
tion, What  shall  be  done  with  the  liquor  dealers 
of  Boston? 

In  work  more  distinctly  religious  the  early 
churches  had  an  excellent  record,  and  at  some 
points  which  we  regard  of  chief  importance  to-da}'. 
For  example,  they  were  faithful  in  the  Christian 
nurture   of  the  young. 

Some  of  our  people  recollect  with  affectionate 
interest  that  when  they  were  children  they  used  to 
be  taught  by  Dr.  Homer,  Saturday  afternoons;  the 
older  scholars  in  the  Westminster  Catechism,  the 
younger  in  simpler  lessons.  Toward  the  close  of 
the  year  there  was  a  public  recitation,  to  which 
parents  were  invited,  when  rewards  were  given. 
In  the  Pilgrim  days  many  objected  to  such  effort  as 
not  scriptural.  Lechford,  remonstrating  with  them, 
says:  "  They  want  a  direct  Scripture  for  ministers' 
catechising,  as  if,  Goe  teach  all  Nations,  and  Traine 
up  a  childe  in  the  way  he  should  goe,  did  not  reach 
to  that." 

The  Saviour's  last  command  had,  as  we  under- 
stand it,  a  wider  application  than  this,  —  a  refer- 
ence to  the  end  of  the  earth,  which  the  fathers  did 
not  apprehend.  New  England,  to  them,  was  end 
enough. 

But  even  this  application  of  the  text  to  religious 


174  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

education  was  not  generally  popular,  so  that  the 
General  Court  passed  an  order  in  1641  that  "  It  is 
desired  that  the  Elders  would  make  a  Catechisme 
for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  the  grounds  of  re- 
ligion." But  by  Dr.  Homer's  day  such  legislation 
had  become  unnecessary,  and  his  close  contact 
with  the  children  must  have  given  him  great  power 
in  their  education.  All  his  catechising  stopped 
when  the  Sunday-school  was  established.  It  was 
objected  to  this  agenc}^  that  it  interfered  with  the 
prerogative  of  the  pastors.  There  were  many  of 
them  like  the  old  minister  in  Rowle}^,  in  1660,  on 
whose  monument  it  was  inscribed:  "With  the 
youth  he  took  great  pains,  and  was  a  tree  of 
Knowledge,  laden  with  fruit,  which  children  could 
reach."     A  tribute  which  any  pastor  might  covet. 

We  honor  the  Sunday-school  for  its  great  work, 
yet  one  of  its  old  problems,  which  taxes  as  seri- 
ously its  wisdom  to-day,  is  the  question  how  it  may 
best  serve  to  supplement,  and  not  supersede,  the 
Christian  nurture  which  belongs  to  the  family  and 
the  pastor. 

Our  Sunday-school  in  Newton  was  organized 
early  in  the  present  century,  and  about  that  time 
most  of  the  agencies  began  which  we  regard  neces- 
sary to  our  equipment  for  church  work. 

They  had  a  missionary  concert,  a  Sunda3'-school 
concert,  and  the  prayer-meeting,  that  was  beginning 
to  take  on  more  modern  ways.  One  Wednesday 
night,  in  the  little  old  vestry.  Dr.  Homer  remarked, 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  175 

"  I  see  there  is  a  stranger  present;  we  would  like 
him  to  pray."  The  stranger  was  Mr.  William 
Jackson,  who  had  just  come  from  Boston  to  reside 
in  Newton. 

After  the  service  Mrs.  Homer  greeted  him  with 
some  emotion  and  said,  "  We  never  had  three 
brethren  take  part  in  one  meeting  before."  The 
other  two  were  Deacon  Woodward  and  Mr. 
Increase  S.  Davis. 

We  speak  of  these  driving  days  in  which  we 
live,  even  in  religion,  at  such  a  high  pressure,  and 
sigh  for  the  old  time  when  there  was  not  so  much 
to  do;  but  here  is  a  Sunday's  work  that  was  not 
uncommon  to  Deacon  Woodward,  who  lived  two 
or  three  miles  from  the  church:  — 

9.30  A.M.,  at  prayer-meeting  in  the  vestry. 

10.30,  at  church,  and  leading  the  choir. 

12,  superintending  the  Sunda3'-school. 

1  P.M.,  lunch  in  a  retired  corner  upstairs,  where 
private  instruction  could  be  given  to  Tillo  or 
Pompey,  General   Hull's  servant. 

2  P.M.,  second  service  in  church.  After  this, 
hurrying  home,  doing  necessar}^  chores,  and  after 
dinner  or  supper,  otf  again  to  prayer-meeting  at 
the  vestry,  or  at  Upper  Falls,  or  somewhere  else. 

That  was,  probably,  much  the  regular  order  in 
the  Sunda3^s  of  the  other  two  men  who  so  delighted 
Mrs.  Homer's  heart,  —  Mr.  Jackson  and  Mr.  Davis. 
The  three  represented  a  great  company  of  men 
and  women  who  stood  under  our  church  all  those 


176  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

years,  and    secured  to  us   the  heritage  which  we 
enjoy  to-day. 

Moreover,  they  were  beginning  then  to  have  a 
very  definite  interest  in  Christian  work  be3'ond 
their  own  borders.  A  letter  sent  nie  from  one  of 
the  old  families  says:  "The  land  where  Dr.  Fur- 
ber's  house  now  stands  was  formerl}^  called  '  The 
Missionary  Field.'  The  farmers  went  in  the 
spring  and  ploughed  the  land  and  planted  corn, 
potatoes,  and  pumpkins,  caring  for  them  through 
the  summer,  and  then  appointed  a  harvest  day  in 
the  fall,  when  a  crowd  would  go  and  dig  the  pota- 
toes, cut  the  corn,  and  gather  the  pumpkins,  and 
late  in  the  day  they  had  an  auction,  and  sold  the 
produce  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  the  proceeds 
were  divided  j  one-half  going  towards  the  minister's 
salary,  and  the  other  half  to  the  cause  of  missions." 
A  warm  interest  was  felt  for  destitute  fields  in  New 
England,  and  also  tor  the  work  of  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  which  had  been  or- 
ganized in   18 10. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  what  a  positive,  ag- 
gressive effort  was  put  forth  by  the  ministry,  at  the 
very  beginning,  to  reach  the  unevangelized;  and 
there  could  be  no  better  example  of  this  than  the 
work  of  John  Eliot. 

Cotton  Mather  thinks  the  devil  decoyed  the 
Indians  to  this  country  in  hopes  that  the  gospel  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  never  come  here  to 
destroy  or  disturb  his  absolute   empire  over  them. 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  1 77 

But    Eliot   was   "  on   ill  terms  with   the  devil,  and 
sounded  the  silver  trumpets  of  heaven." 

It  is  worthy  of  mention  that,  in  the  prosecution 
of  his  mission,  Eliot  employed  some  of  the  instru- 
mentalities which  we  think  most  advanced  at  the 
present  day.  He  believed  in  open-air  meetings. 
If  the  Indians  would  not  come  to  him  at  Roxbury, 
then  he  would  go  to  them.  So  he  had  his  camp- 
meeting  at  Nonantum,  doing  a  work  which  no 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  Newton  or  Boston,  or  anywhere 
else,  ever  equalled.  He  believed  in  a  five-minute 
service  for  the  children  as  a  part  of  public  worship. 
He  put  it  in  the  form  more  particularly  of  catechis- 
ing, but  doubtless  he  mixed  with  it  a  good  share 
of  exhortation.  People  now-a-days  who  object 
to  this  as  a  new  fashion,  when  here  and  there  a 
minister  undertakes  it,  do  not  realize  how  ancient 
it  is.  Eliot  believed  in  inquiry  meetings.  He 
preached  at  a  mark,  and  then  looked  eagerly  to  see 
whether  anything  had  been  hit.  The  Indians  were 
requested  to  remain,  as  one  of  the  ministers  said, 
"  that  so  we  might  screw  by  variety  of  means,  some- 
thing orother  of  God  into  them."  In  considerable 
numbers  they  accepted  the  invitation,  the  after- 
meeting  lasting  two  or  three  hours.  We  have  a  list 
of  the  questions  and  answers,  some  of  which  would 
suit  almost  any  age  as  well  as  that.  A  man  asked, 
"  Do  not  Englishmen  spoil  their  souls  when  they 
say  that  a  thing  cost  them  more  than  it  did  cost?  — 
and  is  it  not  all  one  as  to  steal  ?  "     A  woman  asked 


178  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

"  whether  her  husband's  prayer  signified  anything 
if  he  continued  to  be  angry  with  her  and  to  beat 
her?" 

There  must  have  been  a  foundation  of  good 
works  laid  in  those  inquiry  meetings,  which  helped 
Waban  and  the  other  converts  to  adorn,  in  all 
things,  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  But  even  Eliot  did 
not  convert  everybody.  Philip,  the  Indian  king, 
replied  to  his  appeal,  "  I  care  no  more  for  the  gos- 
pel than  for  the  button  on  your  coat."  That  chief 
stood  for  a  multitude:  this  was  the  missionary's 
burden;  that  was  the  secret  of  his  earnest  plead- 
ing for  the  Divine  Spirit,  to  do  the  mighty  work. 
All  Christian  workers  understand  this.  There  is 
the  multitude  who  do  not  care.  With  our  modern 
meeting-houses  and  our  modern  services  of  wor- 
ship and  of  work,  we  are  so  helpless!  We  need 
the  Holy  Ghost.  We  can  find  no  prayer  so  fitting 
our  need  as  that  contained  in  the  text  of  John 
Eliot's  first  sermon  to  the  Indians,  on  Nonantum 
Hill:  "  Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath,  and 
breathe  upon  these  slain,  that  they  may  live." 

If  there  is  any  wish  that  our  church  heartily 
cherishes  at  this  anniversary  time,  I  am  sure  it  is 
this,  that  she  may,  in  the  years  to  come,  be  filled, 
as  never  before,  with  the  power  from  on  high.  And 
she  wants  this  for  all  the  other  churches  of  New- 
ton, which  have  sprung  from  her,  more  or  less 
directly.  We  need,  all  of  us  Christians,  an  in- 
fusion   into    our    religious   character  of  the    spirit 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  1 79 

which,  generations  ago,  built  the  church   of  New 
England. 

Some  of  the  ways  of  the  old  Puritans,  their  prin- 
ciples and  laws,  seem  to  us  very  extreme;  but  we 
must  remember  the  condition  of  society  in  which 
they  lived,  and  which  necessitated  their  reform. 
There  were  impurities  of  life,  a  demoralization  of 
private  and  public  virtue,  in  the  church  as  well  as 
without,  which  required  the  severest  denunciation. 
They  meant  to  get  so  far  away  from  these  evils  that 
their  protest  should  have  no  uncertain  sound.  They 
were  determined  to  mark  a  line  which  everybody 
could  see,  between  themselves  and  the  world. 

It  requires  no  discernment  to  see  the  perils  which 
beset  them  in  their  plea  for  purity  of  worship. 
Denouncing  liturgies  and  vestments,  they  were 
tempted  to  think  the  absence  of  these  religion,  for- 
getting that  they  could  be  as  cold  and  dead  and 
self-righteous  in  their  barren  service  as  the  Ritual- 
ists were  in  their  forms. 

So,  protesting  against  the  extravagance  and  sec- 
ular perversion  of  church  architecture,  they  built 
meeting-houses  solely  with  reference  to  economy 
and  plainness,  as  though  to  have  the  divine  pres- 
ence in  a  church  it  was  necessary  first  to  get  rid  of 
beauty  and  taste  and  ease,  not  seeing  that  it  was 
possible  to  banish  these  with  a  temper  that  would 
banish  the  Holy  Ghost. 

But,  shunning  their  excesses  and  perils  in  these 
regards,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  their  essential  spirit. 


l8o  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

We  see,  especially,  the  grand  self-denial  with  which 
they  followed  their  convictions.  They  remembered 
the  original  covenant  of  the  "Mayflower,"  accord- 
ing to  which,  in  the  words  of  Bradford,  "  They 
joyned  themselves  into  a  church  estate  in  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  gospel  to  walke  in  all  his  ways,  made 
known  or  to  be  known  unto  them,  according  to  their 
best  endeavors,  whatsoever  it  should  cost  theniP 
And  this  certainly  we  may  see,  without  any  per- 
adventure,  that  the  spring  of  all  their  sacrifice,  of 
all  the  work  they  did  for  the  world,  was  their  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  men. 

At  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
the  First  Church  in  Cambridge,  which  was  our  old 
mother.  President  Eliot,  speaking  for  the  University, 
referred  to  the  great  change  which  had  occurred  in 
its  religious  character  during  the  centuries.  He 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  was  founded  by 
Congregational  ministers  for  the  express  purpose 
of  educating  Congregational  ministers;  that,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  during  the  first  ten  years,  three-fifths 
of  its  graduates  went  into  the  ministry;  and  for 
generations  after,  more  than  one-half;  whereas,  at 
present  but  six  per  cent,  become  ministers  of  any 
denomination. 

Certainly,  this  fact,  with  other  indications  in  the 
same  line,  does  show  a  remarkable  change  from 
that  far-off"  day  when  the  motto  of  old  Harvard  was, 
"  To  Christ  and  the  Church."  Is  it  not  strange  that 
any  one  should  attempt  to  tell  the  story  of  the  last 


HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE.  151 

two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  leave  out  all  refer- 
ence to  the  cross  of  Christ? 

Belief  in  a  crucified  Redeemer  was  the  essence  of 
the  Pilgrim  faith ;  and  without  that  faith,  it  is  fair  to 
ask.  Would  there  ever  have  been  any  Thomas 
Shepard,  or  any  Harvard  College,  or  any  Plym- 
outh rock?  If  not,  why  not?  "We  have  heard 
with  our  ears,  O  God,  our  fathers  have  told  us, 
what  work  thou  didst  in  their  days."  The  best  way 
to  honor  the  fathers  is  to  honor  the  Christian  faith, 
which  was  their  inspiration. 

May  God  keep  us  faithful,  the  old  First  Church 
and  the  other  churches  of  Newton,  making  us  so 
pure  in  doctrine,  in  worship,  in  life,  that  in  the  years 
to  come,  all  our  power  shall  help  to  build,  in  our 
own  city  and  throughout  the  world,  the  kingdom 
of  God. 


COMMEMORATIVE    SERVICES. 


COMMEMORATIVE    SERVICES. 

Monday,  October  7,  1889. 


THE  exercises  commenced  at  3  o'clock  P.M.,  and  were 
opened  by  singing  the  hymn,  "From  all  that  dwell 
below  the  skies,"  to  the  tune  of  "  Old  Hundred."  Selections 
of  Scripture  were  then  read  by  Rev.  Theodore  J.  Holmes, 
pastor;  and  prayer  was  offered  by  Rev.  George  G.  Phipps, 
of  Newton  Highlands.  The  chairman,  Judge  Robert  R. 
Bishop,  then  spoke  as  follows :  — 

ADDRESS   OF  THE   CHAIRMAN,  JUDGE  ROBERT  R.  BISHOP. 

Brethren  and  Friends,  —  We  come  to  celebrate  an  event 
of  no  mean  significance  in  history,  the  founding  of  a  Christian 
church  in  the  wilderness.  We  come  as  the  descendants  and 
representatives  of  the  founders,  claiming  lineage  back  to  them, 
if  not  all  by  blood,  yet  by  that  kinship  of  character,  of  purpose, 
and  of  life,  which  is  stronger  than  blood,  to  testify  of  the  things 
that  are  past,  and  to  refresh  and  reanimate  our  faith  for  the 
things  that  are  to  be. 

We  are  here  to  rejoice  that  the  sanctuary  of  the  Most  High 
has  dwelt  with  us  and  our  fathers  from  the  beginning ;  to 
thank  God  devoutly  for  the  lives  rescued  from  the  darkness  of 
sin,  and  brought  under  the  steadfast  gleam  of  the  sweet  peace 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  hei^e  from  the  early  days  ;  to  thank 
him  for  the  earnest  steadfastness  and  truth  of  the  characters 
built  up  in  Christ  here,  whether,  in  the  language  of  Dr. 
Smith  in  his  prayer  yesterday,  they  be  those  of  the  men  and 
women  with  sunburnt  brow  and  brawny  hands,  who  have 
tilled  these  fields  and  gone  in  and  out  among  these  scenes  from 


l86  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

the  beginning,  or  those  of  cultivated  graces  and  trained  minds, 
—  all  receiving  the  same  equal  crovv^n  in  heaven. 

We  are  here  to  think  with  pious  memories  of  the  deaths  and 
partings  ;  with  joyous  recollections  of  the  marriage-bells  that 
have  sounded  out  from  this  house  and  the  houses  which  have 
gone  before  it.  We  are  here  to  recollect  the  courage  which 
has  come  in  exigencies,  the  calm  peace  which  has  tempered 
joy,  and  the  sweet  offices  of  Christian  charity  that  have  clustered 
around  this  church  of  God  and  been  scattered  in  the  pathway 
of  the  people. 

But  this  is  by  no  means  all.  The  influence  of  a  church  is 
not  confined  to  those  who  are  connected  with  it.  It  has  rela- 
tions which  go  through  the  community,  the  state,  the  country. 
In  the  admirable  collection  of  memorials  which  the  committee 
in  charge  of  that  matter  has  gathered  in  the  adjoining  room, 
you  will  find  an  edition  of  the  complete  works  of  Richard 
Baxter,  given  to  this  church  in  the  early  days  by  the  Governor 
of  the  Bank  of  England  ;  and  if  you  turn  over  its  leaves  you 
will  find  that  one  of  the  subjects  discussed  is  "  Christianity, 
the  greatest  Help  to  Kingdoms."  I  remember  to  have  heard 
the  foremost  living  statesman  of  Massachusetts,  —  I  may  so 
designate  him,  I  think,  without  invidiousness  or  impropriety,  — 
Senator  George  F.  Hoar,  express  the  same  sentiment,  with  an 
application  to  the  United  States.  He  said  he  did  not  be- 
lieve that  the  American  Revolution  could  have  been  success- 
fully accomplished,  and  the  government  of  the  United  States 
securely  established  afterwards,  without  the  preliminary  edu- 
cating power  which  had  been  given  to  the  men  of  that  time 
by,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  the  hard-headed  Orthodox  and 
Presbyterian  ministers  of  the  time."  And  he  mentioned 
Alexander  Hamilton,  among  others,  as  the  example  of  a  man 
who  had  been  trained  otherwise  than  religiously  by  the  re- 
ligious thinking  and  influences  of  the  clergy  of  that  day.  So 
you  will  find,  though  church  and  state  have  long  been  divorced, 
running  through  all  government,  from  before  that  time  to  the 
present,  the  same  truth  illustrated.  Within  the  past  four 
weeks,  indeed,  the  most  serious  social  disturbance  of  the  time, 
the  great  strike  in  London,  has  been  brought  to  a  peaceful 
termination,  mainly  by  the  influence,  greater  to  this  end  than 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  187 

that  of  any  statesman  in  England,  of  a  prelate,  —  Cardinal 
Manning,  —  who,  as  the  account  says,  leaving  his  palace  at 
Westminster  and  going  among  the  thousands  of  agitated  work- 
men, by  his  mediation  between  them  and  the  commercial 
authorities,  restored  activity  to  the  paralyzed  trade  of  the  me- 
tropolis and  employment  to  the  vast  multitude,  and  remarked, 
as  he  returned  to  his  palace,  that  he  had  but  done  his  duty  to 
his  God  and  his  country/ 

It  is  these  things  relating  to  us  and  our  progenitors  from 
the  beginning,  and  these  things  relating  far  beyond  us  to  the 
world  outside,  that  we,  the  children,  in  grateful  remembrance, 
gather  now  to  commemorate.  For  them  we  look  backward 
with  devout  gratitude  to  God,  and  on  account  of  them,  forward 
with  unspeakable  hope. 

But,  friends,  it  is  not  my  duty  or  intention  to  make  an 
address  to  you.  Those  of  you  who  listened  to  the  memorable 
sermon  of  Dr.  Furber  yesterday  will  readily  understand  that 
I  have  been  invited  to  preside  on  account  of  my  great-great- 
grandmother  Hobart ;  or,  if  not  on  her  account,  on  account  of 
her  father,  my  great-great-great-grandfather  Hobart.  And 
I  would  much  rather  shine  by  the  imputed  merit  which  Dr. 

'  In  the  London  strike  about  80,000  men  employed  in  the  dock-yards  and 
wharves,  and  matters  connected  therewith,  went  out  of  employment,  and  the 
entire  shipping  interest  of  the  city  was  at  a  stand-still.  It  continued  for  over 
three  weeks.  On  September  7,  1889,  the  London  "  Times  "  records  that  a 
curiously  constituted  assemblage  conferred  at  the  Mansion  House,  the  preceding 
day,  consisting  of  the  Lord  Mayor,  the  Bishop  of  London,  Cardinal  Manning, 
Mr.  Sidney  Buxton,  and  others,  and  adds,  "  that  it  would  be  somewhat  rash  to 
expect  any  considerable  result  from  the  exercise  of  this  influence."  The  com- 
mittee there  formed  met  with  many  rebuffs  and  disappointments,  and  some  of 
their  number  ceased  exertions;  but  Cardinal  Manning  and  Mr.  Buxton  perse- 
vered, and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  theirs,  and  preeminently  Cardinal 
Manning's,  was  the  main  influence  which  brought  the  strike  to  a  peaceful  and 
satisfactory  termination.  On  September  16  "  Tne  Times  "  records  that  on  that 
morning,  to  the  intense  delight  of  all  persons  concerned,  the  port  of  London 
was  again  in  a  state  of  bustle  and  activity,  and  it  compares  the  information  to 
the  welcome  news  of  peace  after  an  exhausting  war,  and  gives  the  clear  credit 
to  "  this  small  band  of  mediators."  Cardinal  Manning's  age  at  this  time  was 
eighty-two.  He  said  that  he  had  but  done  "  what  he  was  bound  to  do  for  the 
love  of  his  dear  country  and  the  love  of  all  men  joined  together  in  the  brother- 
hood of  their  commonwealth." 


l88  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Furber  says  this  divine  displayed  in  his  preaching,  than  by 
any  merit  of  my  own.  You  see  how  unfamiliar  I  am  with  the 
pulpit.     It  is  a  bad  experiment,  putting  a  layman  here. 

We  understand  well  the  emotions  which  swell  in  the  hearts 
of  the  host  and  hostess  who  remain  at  home  when  the  guests 
come  back  on  Thanksgiving  day.  That  is  the  feeling  we 
have  in  this  church  to-day.  To  give  voice  and  expression  to 
it  towards  you  who  come,  let  me  introduce  to  you  one  whom 
you  will  gladly  hear,  the  captain  of  this  division  of  the  army 
of  the  Lord,  Rev.  Theodore  J.  Holmes,  pastor  of  the  church. 

ADDRESS   OF   REV.   T.   J.    HOLMES. 

An  Indian  girl  at  Hampton,  Va.,  closed  a  letter  to  a  friend 
with  these  words :  "  My  whole  heart  shakes  hands  with  you." 
I  feel  like  that  as  I  have  the  privilege  of  saying  a  word  of  cor- 
dial greeting  to  you  all  in  behalf  of  the  First  Church  of  Newton. 
We  may  not  have  an  opportunity  to  greet  everybody  personally  ; 
but  we  want  you  all  to  understand  that  we  are  exceedingly 
glad  to  have  you  with  us,  sharing  with  us  in  the  pleasures  of 
our  celebi'ation. 

There  are  more  whom  we  would  have  been  glad  to  greet 
here,  among  whom  are,  especially,  some  of  the  "  Powers  that 
be."  But  it  is  not  quite  so  necessary  to  have  them  at  a  church 
gathering  as  it  used  to  be  in  the  old  Colony  times.  Then,  the 
church  had  a  concern  for  the  state  and  the  state  for  the  church, 
that  is  not  always  felt  now.  When  Mr.  Meriam,  the  fourth 
pastor,  accepted  the  call  of  this  church,  he  was  waited  upon  by 
a  committee  appointed  by  the  town,  who  inquired  how  he 
would  be  pleased  to  come  into  the  village,  —  that  is,  by  what 
kind  of  procession  or  other  demonstration.  It  is  very  different 
now-a-days.  I  do  not  know  how  it  was  with  Dr.  Furber,  but 
when  I  came  to  the  town,  it  was  not  in  a  procession,  I  had  to 
buy  a  ticket  at  the  Boston  and  Albany  depot,  and  then  made 
the  journey  like  any  ordinary  man. 

Then  there  were  other  ministerial  prerogatives  in  those  days. 
One  of  our  ministers  owned  twenty-five  acres  of  land  besides 
his  share  in  the  town  "  wood-lot."  That  is  just  twenty-five 
acres  more  than  I  own,   and  I  have   to   buy  my  own  wood. 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  1 89 

Still  I  do  not  have  any  hard  feelings  toward  the  authorities, 
but  wish  the  governor  and  mayor  and  some  of  the  rest  of  the 
public  functionaries  were  present  to  help  in  our  festivity.  We 
greet  cordially  those  who  are  here.  We  welcome  the  older 
members  of  our  church,  who  have  an  interest  in  this  celebra- 
tion that  is  not  possible  to  the  rest  of  us.  Stirring  these  old 
memories  must  seem  to  them  like  visiting  the  graves  of  their 
beloved  dead.  We  welcome  our  sister  churches  of  Newton, 
all  of  whom  grew,  more  or  less  directly,  from  the  first  church, 
planted  here  in  1664.  We  welcome  our  sister  churches  of 
Newton  Centre,  with  whom  we  have  so  pleasant  a  relation, 
and  rejoice  that,  although  we  do  not  spring  from  the  same 
ecclesiastical  ancestry,  we  are  all  children  of  the  Heavenly 
Father. 

We  regret  that  the  founders  of  our  church  did  not  apprehend 
more  fully  this  doctrine  of  the  communion  of  the  saints,  —  the 
saints  out  of  their  own  communion.  We  wish,  for  example,  that 
when  they  wei'e  exempting  ministers  from  taxation,  they  had 
not  denied  the  right  to  the  Baptist  ministers  and  to  ministers 
converted  under  Whitefield.  We  are  inclined  to  repent  for  our 
fathers  in  this  particular,  that  they  ever  cherished  a  spirit  that 
was  not  brotherly  and  tolerant.  Yet  they  did  as  well  as  they 
knew,  and  better  than  the  age  in  which  they  lived.  We  are 
glad  that  day  has  gone  by.  The  graves  of  Father  Grafton  and 
Father  Homer,  lying  almost  side  by  side  in  the  old  cemetery, 
are  a  sign  not  alone  of  the  friendship  that  sprang  up  between 
them  personally,  but  of  the  full  harmony  which  had  arisen, 
even  in  their  day,  between  their  denominations,  and  which  has 
been  perpetuated  so  delightfully  until  the  present  time. 

As  for  the  heresies  of  Whitefield,  who  preached  in  this  church 
in  1748?  ^"d  again  in  1770,  ten  days  before  his  death,  we  wish 
some  one  like  him  could  preach  here  again,  and  shake  the  com- 
munity with  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  We  would  fellowship 
his  converts  ;  no  new  lights  would  alarm  us,  if  only  they 
seemed  kindled  at  the  altar  of  God. 

We  welcome  here  to-day  any  friends  with  whom  we  have  not 
full  theological  accord.  The  first  bell  on  the  old  meeting- 
house was  presented  to  us  in  1810  by  the  congregation  of  Dr. 
Channing  in  Boston.     Our  church,  receiving  the  gift,  replied  : 


190  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

"  You  desire  us  to  accept  of  this  as  a  sign  of  your  Christian 
fellowship  and  brotherly  love,  which  sentiment  we  do  most 
sincerely  reciprocate,  and  beg  you  to  accept  our  best  wishes  for 
your  prosperity  and  happiness,  individually  and  as  a  Christian 
society."  That  was  before  the  old  lines  of  controversy  had 
been  drawn.  We  hope  that  the  time  is  coming  when  such 
lines  will  be  rubbed  out ;  when  there  will  be  no  longer  Uni- 
tarians or  Orthodox,  but  as  in  the  early  day,  only  Christians, 
who  are  "  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints  and  of  the  household 
of  God,  and  are  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone." 
If  this  mother  church,  on  her  two  hundred  and  twenty-fifth 
birthday,  is  old  enough,  she  would  like  to  ofler  this  as  her 
benediction  :  "  Grace  be  with  all  them  that  love  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in   sincerity." 

So,  friends,  one  and  all,  "  our  whole  heart  shakes  hands  with 
you."  We  hope  that  this  occasion  may  be  to  you,  as  to  us,  a 
good  inspiration,  helping  us  henceforth  to  pray  and  work  and 
live  more  earnestly  and  more  together,  to  build  in  Newton  and 
in  the  world  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  choir  sang  the  anthem,  "  Break  forth  into  joy." 

The  Chairman  then  said :  — 

One  of  the  things  which  make  us  think  that  Newton  Centre 
is  the  most  delightful  place  in  the  world  to  live  in  is  the  ab- 
solute harmony  which  exists  between  the  religious  denomina- 
tions of  this  place.  If  there  is  the  slightest  ripple  of  friction 
between  any  of  the  societies  or  denominations  here,  a  resi- 
dence of  twenty-five  years  in  your  midst  has  failed  to  discover 
it.  Truly,  the  mantle  of  Father  Grafton  and  Dr.  Homer  has 
rested  on  all  their  descendants  and  representatives  in  these 
churches  since.  Among  the  pleasures  which  I  shall  have  this 
afternoon  of  introducing  various  friends  to  you,  all  of  whom 
you  will  gladly  receive,  there  is  none  greater  than  that  of 
extending  the  right  hand  of  welcome  to  Rev.  Lemuel  C. 
Barnes,  of  the  Baptist  church. 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  I9I 


ADDRESS     OF    REV.    LEMUEL    C.    BARNES. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  bring  to  you  from  the  little  family  of 
Christian  churches  in  this  village  our  greeting  and  our  con- 
gratulations on  this  birthday  of  yours.  I  wish  we  had  on  rec- 
ord the  history  of  the  relations  of  this  oldest  church  to  the 
others.  It  would  be  a  delightful  record  to  read  to-day.  It  is 
worthy  of  mark  that  this  church,  the  first  church  in  Newton, 
has  such  a  beautiful  spirit  in  relation  to  the  other  churches  as 
it  has,  for  this  reason  :  for  more  than  half  of  your  life  there 
was  no  other  church  in  this  place  of  any  kind.  The  youngest 
of  the  churches  which  I  represent  to-day^  is  but  just  born. 
Two  of  the  others  are  but  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age  ;  and  the 
oldest  of  them  is  but  one  hundred  and  nine  years  old.  It  was 
not  until  four  years  after  the  British  flag  went  down  and  the 
flag  of  our  country's  independence  came  up  that  there  was  a 
Baptist  chuixh  in  Newton.  It  is  said  that  an  only  child  is  almost 
sure  to  be  a  spoiled  child.  And  so  I  congratulate  you  to-day 
that  there  is  such  a  warm-hearted  fraternal  temper  in  this  old, 
long  the  only,  church  towards  the  other  churches.  Those  of 
us  who  are  so  juvenile,  and  who,  you  must  think,  are  some- 
what away  from  the  absolutely  correct  faith,  you  have  always 
seemed  glad  to  see,  and  have  always  treated  with  love. 

Coming  here  a  stranger  a  few  months  ago,  I  was  greatly 
impressed,  after  being  here  a  little  time,  by  the  very 
thought  which  our  presiding  officer  expressed  to-day,  —  that 
there  is  here  a  beautiful  Christian  spirit  among  the  churches 
in  their  relations  to  one  another.  We  have  not  the 
history  of  all  the  courtesies  which  have  been  extended  in 
one  way  and  another  in  the  years  gone  by.  It  might 
be  a  pleasant  thing  if  we  could  have  a  moment  or 
two  of  silence  here  now,  that  those  who  are  older 
in  their  lives  in  this  village  might  recall  the  delightful 
associations  of  the  past  among  the  various  churches.  We 
have,  over  in  our  old  cemetery,  two  monuments,  exactly  alike, 
and  side  by  side,  of  those  two  pastors  of  an  earlier  day,  who 
had  already  learned  the  sweetness  of  loving  even  those  whom 

'  The  Episcopal  Church  in  Newton  Centre. 


192  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

they  believed  to  be,  in  some  respects,  not  fully  right  in  their 
theological  and  ecclesiastical  views.  Now,  as  it  is  impossible 
for  me,  a  new-comer,  to  recall  the  beautiful  memories  and 
traditions  of  the  past  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  of 
this  church,  I  would  like  to  call  to  your  minds,  for  a  moment 
or  two,  the  coming  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  in  this 
respect. 

For  one,  I  am  glad  to  say,  on  this  great  occasion  of  yours, 
that  it  is  a  pleasure  to  me  that  there  has  been  formed  here 
recently,  if  indeed  it  has  yet  taken  technical  form,  an  organiza- 
tion of  the  Episcopal  Church.  As  this  community  grows,  as 
there  are  people  of  various  modes  of  former  worship  and 
phases  of  doctrine,  as  there  comes  to  be  more  and  more  power 
to  support  institutions  of  this  kind,  we  must  expect  still  other 
Christian  churches  in  our  community.  And  so  far  and  so  fast 
as  they  are  absolutely  needed,  and  as  there  are  people  here 
who  can  support  them  without  appealing  to  outside  aid,  let  us 
thank  God  that  they  come,  and  help  them  in  every  way  we 
can,  by  friendship,  and  by  a  good  word  whenever  it  can  be 
spoken. 

Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  ago  the  steam-engine, 
the  great  physical  motor  of  our  age,  was  only  ten  years  old. 
Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  ago  Protestantism,  evan- 
gelical religion,  the  great  spiritual  motor  of  our  age,  was  young, 
and  did  not  have  in  all  the  world  as  many  communicants  as  it 
numbers  now  in  the  United  States  alone.  What  will  be  the 
physical,  the  social,  the  political  life  of  this  land  and  the  world 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  hence?  What  will  be  the 
religious  condition  of  this  land  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
years  hence .?  Largely,  the  latter,  what  we  make  it.  If  we 
stand  together,  work  together,  pray  together,  give  together, 
for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  we  shall  see 
greater  progress  in  the  next  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years 
than  has  occurred  the  last  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years. 

On  occasions  like  this  there  is  apt  to  be  a  great  deal  of  ill- 
advised  talk  about  all  being  one,  our  denominational  differ- 
ences being  unimportant,  and  all  that,  which  talk  is  really  gush. 
We  do  not  wish  to  indulge  in  that  to-day,  any  of  us. 

But  there  is  one  practical  and  practicable  phase  of  Christian 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  I93 

fraternity  which  we  ma}'  well  think  about  on  such  an  occasion 
as  this.  When  this  church  was  organized,  three  of  the  origi- 
nal thirteen  colonies  were  not  yet  settled.  Now  we  number 
thirty-eight  States,  with  four  new  ones  coming  in.  I  wish  that 
in  the  new  regions  there  might  be  an  arrangement  among  the 
different  denominations  who  have  the  same  central  ideas  of 
what  Christianity  is,  by  which  two  or  more  of  these  different 
denominations  might  not  endeavor,  in  every  new  town,  to 
plant  and  sustain  churches  that  must  be  feeble,  struggling, 
half-living,  half-dying  churches.  I  wish  we  might  come  to  an 
agreement  by  which  we  could  unite  and  take  this  land  for 
Christ  together,  instead  of  in  the  slightest  degree  dissipating 
our  powers  by  pulling  one  against  another. 

Suppose  that  in  a  Rocky  Mountain  town  there  are  five  hun- 
dred people,  and  a  Baptist  brother  comes  to  me  from  there  and 
says,  "  There  are  five  hundred  people  in  our  town,  —  our  city, 
we  call  it,  for  it  is  fast  '  booming '  into  a  city.  The  Congre- 
gationalists  have  got  in  ahead  of  us,  —  as  they  nearly  always 
do,  —  for  they  are  putting  twice  as  much  money  as  we  into  home 
missions.  They  have  a  good  meeting-house  and  a  good 
minister.  But  there  are  ten  Baptists  in  the  city.  We  feel  that 
we  must  have  a  church  of  our  own.  Will  not  the  Baptist 
church  of  Newton  Centre  help  us?  We  are  poor,  and  must 
have  a  great  deal  of  outside  help."  I  should  like  to  be  able  to 
say  to  my  brother,  "Tell  those  ten  Baptists  to  sta}^  Baptists  as 
long  as  they  live,  but  to  work  with  the  Congregationalist 
church  until  the  time  comes  when  there  are  enough  Baptists  in 
that  town  to  form  and,  in  large  part  at  least,  maintain  a  church 
of  their  own;  and  meantime  the  power  of  the  Baptist  church 
in  Newton  Centre  shall  be  directed  to  some  town  where  the 
Congregationalists  with  all  their  push  have  not  yet  entered, 
and  we  will  take  the  lead  there.  Then  our  Congregationalist 
brethren,  as  generous  as  w^e,  will  say  that  the  Baptists  have 
started  there  and  the  Congregationalists  shall  go  to  some  other 
town." 

I  must  not  talk  of  this  longer  now  ;  but  I  hope  that,  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  years  hence,  in  the  year  two  thousand  one 
hundred  and  fourteen,  there  may  be,  if  God  pi'ospers  us,  if 
he  packs  this  city  with  people,  as  he  seems  likely  to  do,  there 


194  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

will  be  needed,  and  will  be,  ten  Christian  churches  or  more, 
instead  of  the  five  we  now  have  at  the  Centre.  And  I  hope 
that  in  the  year  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  fourteen,  when 
there  are  hundreds  of  millions  of  people  in  our  broad  land,  the 
churches  of  Christ  here  may  be  so  coordinated  for  work  that 
no  energy  shall  be  lost,  and  so  filled  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Master  that  light  shall  still  shine  out  from  Newton  Centre  to 
the  ends  of  the  continent  and  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Thus 
the  millennium  will  be  very  near,  if  not  already  begun. 

The  Chairman.  —  I  hardly  know,  my  friends,  in  which 
of  several  ways  to  intioduce  the  next  speaker.  I  might  intro- 
duce him  as  a  soldier  and  a  general  in  the  war.  I  might  in- 
troduce him  as  now  pastor  of  a  large  and  flourishing  church  in 
a  most  important  section  of  this  State.  I  might  introduce  him 
as  the  son  of  this  church,  in  a  certain  sense,  sent  out  of  it  to 
take  and  hold  this  post  in  which  he  now  is.  I  might  intro- 
duce him  as  my  friend  and  the  friend  of  all  of  us.  He  is 
known  to  you,  and  he  befits  each  of  these  capacities.  I  am 
very  glad  to  have  him  here  to-day,  and  I  am  sure  you  rejoice 
to  see  him   here  again, — the  Rev.  Erastus  Blakeslee. 


ADDRESS   BY   THE   REV.    ERASTUS   BLAKESLEE. 

My  friends,  if  your  chairman  has  been  in  a  quandary  to 
know  how  to  introduce  me,  I  have  been  in  a  much  greater 
quandary  to  know  why  I  am  here.  Those  whose  names  are 
upon  yovu"  programme  this  afternoon  are  evidently  each  in- 
vited for  some  specific  I'eason.  But  I  can  see  no  special  reason 
for  my  invitation,  except  the  feeling  of  good-will  on  the  part  of 
those  who  arranged  this  programme.  Yet  it  gives  me  very 
great  pleasure  to  be  present,  and  to  congratulate  you  most 
heartily  on  this  occasion.  I  thank  you  for  the  kind  remem- 
brance which  brought  me  hither.  Some  of  the  pleasantest 
years  of  my  life  have  been  spent  in  this  village,  and  some  of 
the  most  precious  scenes  of  my  life  have  been  in  connection 
with  the  worship  of  God  in  this  very  church. 

Among  the  remarks  which  Judge  Bishop  made,  he  failed  to 
make  one   that  he    might  have   made,  to   the  efiect  that  I  was 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  I95 

once  one  of  the  deacons  of  this  church.  It  is  a  matter  to  which 
I  look  back  with  much  satisfaction,  because  I  hold  the  office 
of  deacon  in  very  great  honor  ;  and  to  have  been  once  an  office- 
bearer in  this  church,  receiving  from  the  hands  of  your  pastor 
the  consecrated  bread  and  wine,  and  handing  it  from  one  to 
another  of  the  saints  of  the  Lord,  I  esteem  to  have  been  a  very 
great  privilege. 

I  might  have  thought  that  I  was  invited  here  because  of  the 
connection  of  this  church  indirectly  with  my  own,  through  Mrs. 
Ann  Hammond  Pope,  of  whom  3'ou  heard  yesterday.  Some- 
thing more  than  one  hundred  and  ten  years  ago  she  went  from 
among  you,  and  spent  eighty  years  of  her  useful  and  brilliant 
life  among  the  people  where  I  now  minister.  I  might  perhaps 
think  of  other  reasons  ;  but  there  is  one  which  is  a  little  more 
remote,  and  which  I  presume  did  not  occur  to  the  pastor  of 
this  church  when  he  sent  nie  the  invitation  ;  yet  this  reason 
seems  to  me  to  suggest  the  most  fitting  position  that  I  can  take 
before  you  at  this  time,  which  is  that  of  a  kind  of  great-grand- 
father to  you  all.  You  came  from  Cambridge  here,  or  rather 
your  fathers  did.  My  fathers  went  from  Cambridge  to  Hart- 
ford twenty-five  years,  or  thereabouts,  before  yours  left  Cam- 
bridge. We — •  my  fathers — were  dissatisfied  to  remain  in 
Cambridge,  a  kind  of  adjunct  to  the  city  of  Boston  ;  therefore 
we  went  to  Hartford  to  set  up  for  ourselves.  But  our  goods 
and  effects  passed  into  your  hands,  and  your  fathers  set  up 
business  at  the  old  stand  with  whatever  good-will  and  help  we 
could  give  them.  You  were  our  successors  and  representatives, 
and  after  all  these  years  I  come  back  to  you,  and,  in  the  name  of 
my  fathers,  inquire  how  you  have  prospered.  As  with  their 
eyes  I  look  around  upon  these  hills  and  along  these  valleys, 
and  see  your  beautiful  homes  and  all  the  conveniences  of  life 
gathered  about  you  ;  as  I  see  this  pleasant  and  suitable  house  of 
worship,  I  feel  to  congratulate  you  on  the  way  in  which  you 
have  been  blessed  and  brought  along  to  this  pi"esent  moment. 

But  in  their  name  also  I  would  catechise  you  a  little.  We 
are  very  strict,  you  know,  concerning  some  things,  down  in 
Connecticut,  and  have  a  special  interest  in  how  our  successors 
here  have  borne  themselves  during  these  two  centuries  and  a 
quarter.     I  therefore  ask  you,  in  their  stead,  whether  you  have 


196  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

maintained  the  Christian  faith  which  was  so  dear  to  them. 
And  I  hear  your  quick  response  :  "  Yes  ;  but  we  have  passed 
through  perplexing  times.  We  have  seen  the  great  doctrines 
of  the  evangelical  church  set  aside  one  after  another  in  this 
region,  and  have  witnessed  much  trouble  thereabout  among 
the  churches.  But  we  have  remained  true  to  all  the  great 
essentials  of  the  Christian  belief.  We  still  believe  in  one  God, 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit.  We  still  believe  that  the  Bible 
was  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  that  it  contains  the  only 
sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  We  still  believe  that  all 
men  are  sinners,  and  that  none  could  be  saved  were  it  not  for 
divine  aid.  We  still  believe  that  God,  in  his  infinite  love,  has 
given  that  divine  aid  through  the  life  and  death  of  Christ 
Jesus,  his  Son  ;  and  that  all  who  accept  of  him  through  re- 
pentance and  faith  are  renewed  and  sanctified  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  by  him  made  partakers  of  eternal  life.  We  have 
clung  to  these  fundamental  Christian  truths,  and  in  our  experi- 
ence of  heart  and  life,  and  in  the  expei'ience  of  those  round 
about  us,  have  found  them  very  fruitful." 

In  the  name  of  my  fathers,  then,  I  rejoice  that  our  successors, 
as  represented  by  you  here,  have  remained  true  in  these  re- 
gards. And  now  we  ask  you  how  you  have  borne  yourselves 
concerning  the  great  conflicts  through  which  this  coimtry  has 
come.  Have  you  been  true  to  all  that  was  good,  and  pure, 
and  right?  Have  you  stood  by  the  government  in  all  its 
needs?  "  Yes,"  I  hear  the  quick  response  ;  "  this  old  church 
has  stood  by  the  government  in  all  its  needs,  early  and  late, 
and  has  always  been  true  to  whatever  is  highest  and  best  in 
this  community,  and  in  the  state  and  nation.  We  had  our 
minute-men  at  Lexington  and  Concord.  Some  of  our  number 
fought  through  the  Revolution.  And  when  the  later  struggle 
came  and  the  life  of  this  nation  hung  in  the  balance,  we  sent 
this  list  of  men  whose  names  are  on  the  roll  of  honor  here 
before  us,  seventeen,  from  our  number,  who  faced  death  on 
Southern  fields,  —  men  who  stood  on  the  perilous  edge  of 
battle,  and  who,  at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  defended  their 
country's  flag  against  all  comers.  Among  them  was  one 
name  greatly  honored,  Charles  Ward,  who  stood  at  arms 
in  that  place    where   the   great   Rebellion    lifted   itself  to  the 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  I97 

utmost,  on  Cemetery  Ridge,  at  Gettysburg,  and  was  smitten 
then  so  that  he  died  of  his  wounds.  Down  in  Connecticut, 
in  the  State-House,  is  a  monument  to  Nathan  Hale,  the  Con- 
necticut patriot  who  was  captured  on  Long  Island  as  a  spy, 
and  who,  when  led  out  to  his  execution  by  the  British 
officers,  uttered  these  memorable  words  :  '  I  only  regret  that 
I  have  but  one  life  to  give  for  my  country.'  Those  words  are 
graven  now  on  the  pedestal  of  his  statue.  But  this  young 
man,  of  the  best  blood  of  this  town,  of  an  ancient  family,  here 
in  your  own  public  hall,  before  he  left,  said  :  '  If  the  country 
needs  my  life,  I  am  willing  to  give  it.'  He  otlered  himself, 
as  the  patriot,  Nathan  Hale,  had  done  before,  and  his  offer 
was  accepted  in  the  terrible  thunder  of  the  battle  that  saved 
the  nation's  life.     All  honor  to  his  memory  !  " 

I  am  rejoiced  with  you,  my  friends,  at  so  noble  a  record 
concerning  these  things,  as  well  as  concerning  your  adherence 
to  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  I  have  but  a  moment 
longer  ;  but  there  is  one  other  line  of  thought  which  I  would 
like  to  suggest.  I  often  think  of  the  days  that  are  past, 
wlien  other  men  were  in  these  homes,  and  when  all  the  affairs 
of  life  were  in  other  hands.  Those  hands  have  all  disappeared. 
And  then  I  cast  my  thoughts  forward,  and  think  of  that  other 
day,  not  so  very  distant,  when  this  generation  shall  have 
quietly  passed  away,  and  the  places  that  now  know  them  shall 
know  them  no  more  forever.  These  churches,  school- 
houses,  banks ;  these  homes,  these  railroads  and  telegraphs, 
—  everything  that  we  see  here, — will  be  in  other  hands, 
and  not  in  ours.  Thus  the  things  around  us  seem  to  be 
perishing.  Where  and  what  are  the  things  that  are  constant.-* 
There  is  the  faith  in  God,  to  which  you  cling  in  this  church. 
There  is  the  labor  of  our  lives,  whatever  it  may  be  ;  for  the 
Scripture  saith,  "Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord, 
for  they  do  rest  from  their  labors  and  their  works  do  follow 
them."  So  your  works  will  follow  you  if  the  work  is  done 
for  the  Master  in  earnestness  and  zeal.  And  out  of  this 
perishing  away  of  the  children  of  men,  —  the  fathers  gone,  we 
soon  to  go,  the  future  pressing  upon  us,  — there  remains  this 
also  that  is  constant :  the  life  of  the  human  soul.  That  life 
begins  here  and  goes  on  forever.     And  the  blessed  thing  in 


198  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

this  world  is  that  there  is  a  Christian  church  through  which 
God  lays  hold  on  the  souls  of  men  and  saves  them  unto  him- 
self with  an  everlasting  salvation.  What  can  be  better,  my 
friends,  than  that  we  be  the  friends  of  God,  working  for  him 
here  and  now,  and  living  with  him  in  his  church  triumphant, 
made  perfect  in  the  world  to  come.  May  that  be  the  blessed 
privilege  of  us  all. 

Again  I  congratulate  you  most  heartily,  my  friends,  on  the 
Christian  church,  on  this  branch  of  it,  on  its  prosperity,  and 
on  all  that  goes  to  make  it  what  it  is,  noble  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord.  I  exhort  3'ou  to  steadfastness,  and  zeal,  and  earnestness, 
that  so  you  may  look  back  upon  vour  lives  with  pleasure  and 
not  with  grief.  The  Lord  be  with  you,  and  bless  you,  each 
and  every  one. 

The  congregation  sang,  to  the  tune  of  "  Duke  Street," 
the  hymn,   "  O  God,  beneath  thy  guiding  hand." 

The  Chairman.  — My  friends,  we  have  in  Newton  a  most 
delightful  fraternity  of  churches.  In  some  capacity,  I  think  all 
the  clergymen  representing  the  different  churches  of  our  de- 
nomination in  this  city  will  participate  in  our  exercises.  We 
welcome  often,  and  always  with  pleasure  and  interest,  the  rep- 
resentative and  shepherd  of  the  church  at  Auburndale,  who  is 
minister,  citizen,  friend.  When  he  comes  here,  he  comes  as 
our  friend.  We  never  have  welcomed  him  with  more  pleasure 
than  to-day,  in  this  time  of  our  festivity,  to  speak  of  the  things 
which  make  for  the  peace  of  the  children  of  God.  We  will 
now  listen  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cutler. 

ADDRESS    OF    THE    REV.   CALVIN    CUTLER. 

Mr.  President  and  Friends,  — It  is  very  delightful  to  be 
here  again,  as  it  always  has  been  delightful  to  me  to  meet  the 
assembly  that  comes  together  in  this  house  to  worship  God. 
I  am  glad  to  have  a  share  to-day  with  you  in  these  festivities. 
Especially  must  this  occasion  be  a  joy  to  those  whose  home  is 
here.  They  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  yesterday  to  the 
rehearsal  of  things,  many  of  which  they  had  heard  before  with 
their  ears,  and  their  fathers  had  told  them, — things  that  they 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  199 

will  like  to  tell  also  to  the  generation  following.  The  privi- 
lege of  being  here  is  not  mine  by  birthright.  It  is  not  a 
case  of  coming  back  to  my  old  home,  or,  as  a  speaker  on  a 
similar  occasion  once  said,  "back  to  the  place  of  my  former 
nativity;"  although,  if  one  might  have  several  native  towns, 
it  would  be  a  pleasure  to  me  to  count  this  as  one  of  mine, 
and  this  part  of  it  in  particular,  with  its  goodly  record.  One 
of  the  promises  made  to  the  ancient  church,  written  in  the 
Psalms,  is,  "Yea,  thou  shalt  see  thy  children's  children." 

I  come  to  represent  one  of  the  grandchildren  of  this  vener- 
able church.  A  little  incident  in  my  own  family  history,  that 
occurred  within  a  few  weeks,  enables  me  to  appreciate  more 
than  I  otherwise  might  be  able  to  do,  the  feelings  which 
grandparents  have,  and  to  know  something  of  the  satisfaction 
which  you  must  feel,  venerable  as  you  are,  in  seeing  so  many 
of  your  grandchildren  coming  to  visit  you.  Our  words  must 
be  few,  for  we  know  what  used  to  be  told  you  when  you 
were  young,  — that  "  little  folks  should  be  seen,  not  heard  ;  " 
though  now  the  young  folks  speak  in  meeting.  We  give 
you  the  assurance  that  it  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  us  to  be 
with  you.  And  we  use  this  word  "we"  not  unadvisedly. 
It  is  told  of  a  certain  young,  unmarried  clergyman  in  this 
region,  but  not  in  this  neighborhood,  that  once,  when  he  was 
called  upon  to  give  an  address  before  a  maternal  association, 
as  he  warmed  up  to  his  subject,  he  astonished  his  hearers 
by  commencing  an  impassioned  sentence,  "  We,  who  are 
mothers."     But  we  who  are  grandchildren,  salute  you. 

You  had  the  pleasure  yesterday,  and  I  wish  we  could  have 
enjoyed  the  pleasure  with  you,  of  listening  to  the  rehearsal,  in 
felicitous  words,  of  events  which  took  place  in  former  days. 
There  were  suggestions  in  many  cases  of  the  great  contrast 
between  those  times  and  the  days  in  which  we  live.  It  is  the 
complaint  of  some  that  the  days  we  have  fallen  upon  are  un- 
fortunate in  many  ways;  and  in  this  respect,  amongst  others, 
that  the  prayers  of  the  sanctuary  are,  in  comparison  with  those 
of  former  days,  lacking  in  definiteness.  It  may  be  so.  I  have 
been  told  of  one  clergyman  in  the  ancient  time  who,  before  he 
entered  the  ministry,  took  a  course  in  medicine,  and  was  not 
bashful    about   displaying   his  attainments    in    that   direction. 


200  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

One  Sunday,  a  note  being  sent  up  to  the  pulpit  asking  prayers 
for  a  woman  of  the  congregation  who  was  sick,  he  recognized 
the  request  in  his  supplication  in  words  like  these  :  "  That 
this  woman,  thy  servant,  may  recover  fi'om  her  sickness,  if  it 
be  thy  will ;  although  we,  who  are  acquainted  with  matters  of 
medicine,  know  that  she  cannot."  You  have  had  rehearsed 
to  you  and  set  forth  before  you  by  both  of  your  pastors  the 
graces  of  the  Christian  life,  and  you  have  seen  them  also 
illustrated  in  their  lives  and  in  the  lives  of  many  others  with 
whom  you  have  taken  sweet  counsel  together,  and  in  whose 
company  you  have  come  up  to  this  house  of  the  Lord- 
It  has  been  said  that  of  all  the  Christian  graces  there  is  only 
one  that  has  no  counterfeit.  There  is  an  impudence  that  goes 
sometimes  for  plainness  of  speech.  There  is  a  zeal  for  doctrine 
that  lacks  in  charity.  There  is  a  frugality  that  drops  into 
covetousness.  There  is  an  easy-going  good-nature  that  has  no 
regard  for  the  truth  ;  and  so  on.  But  there  is  one  grace  for 
which  there  has  been  invented  no  counterfeit,  and  that  is  the 
grace  of  perseverance.  There  is  nothing  like  it,  nothing  that 
can  take  the  place  of  it.  Great  reward  at  last  is  promised  to 
patient  continuance  in  well  doing.  In  this  respect  there  is  one 
thing  in  the  life  of  this  church  in  which  it  has  no  competitors: 
it  is  the  first  church  in  Newton,  and  always  was,  and  as  long 
as  it  lives  it  always  will  be,  with  none  to  rob  it  of  its  honor, 
and  none  to  share  that  honor  with  it. 

It  w^ould  have  been  delightful  to  hear  what  your  ears  heard 
yesterday  in  review  of  things  that  are  past;  yet  it  has  occurred 
to  me  that,  full  and  felicitous  as  those  words  doubtless  were, 
they  could  have  expressed  but  a  small  part  of  that  which  is 
true  in  fact  in  the  history  of  this  church.  A  full  report  could 
not  be  given.  The  influence  of  those  who  have  been  mem- 
bers of  this  church  has  gone  out  in  lines  that  have  been  marked 
by  no  eye  but  God's  only.  It  has  gone  forth  into  distant 
parts  of  our  own  land,  gone  perhaps  to  other  lands.  He  who 
would  measure  it  all  must  know  and  understand  the  piety  of 
those  who  have  been  faithful  in  their  homes,  the  influence  they 
have  exerted  by  the  fireside  and  in  the  walks  of  business  and  in 
social  life.  One  who  would  do  this  must  count  up  the  names, 
and  know  the  lives,  and  mark  the  wanderings,  of  the  children 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  20I 

of  this  church,  many  of  whom  have  been  gathered  into  other 
communions.  One  must  look  into  the  homes  which  this 
church  has  overshadowed  and  the  graves  which  it  has  blessed. 
He  must  follow  those  who  have  gone  from  their  earthly  trials 
and  entered  into  their  eternal  rest  and  glory.  All  this  must  be 
done  before  a  full  history  of  this  church  can  be  written,  and 
a  complete  presentation  of  the  facts  of  that  history  can  be 
made.     For  this  we  must  await  that  later  and  better  day. 

A  solemn  trust,  a  sacred  trust,  a  precious  trust,  1  know  you 
feel  is  committed  to  your  hands  this  day.  You  receive  it  from 
hands  that  already  are  mouldering  in  the  dust,  and  generations 
that  are  yet  unborn  are  awaiting  their  turn  to  receive  it  from 
you.  Why  may  we  not  think  of  this  ancient,  this  venerable 
church  as  abiding  here  till  the  end  of  time?  Why  may  not 
Christ  be  worshipped  here,  as  he  has  been  worshipped  by  the 
fathers,  so  by  their  children,  until  he  shall  come  himself  in 
glory.?  These  walls  must  decay,  and  those  who  are  now  bear- 
ing the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day  and  rejoicing  in  the  privi- 
leges of  this  fellowship  must  pass  away  and  be  gathered  unto 
their  fathers;  but  the  church,  which  is  the  body  of  Christ, 
remains. 

And  you  are  not  alone  in  the  interest,  the  solicitude  that  you 
feel  to  guard  this  sacred  trust  and  to  do  what  in  you  lies  to  pre- 
serve the  purity,  the  integrity  of  this  church  and  to  watch  over 
its  growth.  Spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect  who  once  walked 
these  roads  are  looking  down,  we  may  believe,  upon  this  place 
of  their  spiritual  birth.  Angels  sent  forth  from  God  to  minister 
to  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation  have  long  known 
the  way  to  this  place.  And  God,  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit,  with  unceasing  love  remembers  those  who  here  confess 
his  name  and  trust  his  grace.  His  grace  be  with  you  all.  As 
he  was  with  the  fathers,  so  may  he  be  with  you  and  your  chil- 
dren and  your  children's  children  to  the  latest  generation. 

The  Chairman. — We  are  mindful,  as  I  said  in  the  be- 
ginning, of  the  relations  which  subsist  between  the  church  and 
the  state.  We  remember  the  obligations  which  the  church  is 
under  to  the  state  and  to  tlie  country  ;  and  we  recall  how  well 
it  has  discharged  those  obligations.     We  had  hoped  to  have 


202  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

with  us  to-day  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  but  he  is  neces- 
sarily absent  on  account  of  illness.  He  has  sent  us  this  letter, 
which  I  will  read. 

[Governor  Ames's  letter  of  regret  was  read.  See  Ap- 
pendix.] 

But,  my  friends,  we  have  with  us  a  governor.  We  have 
with  us  the  governor  whom  Newton  and  this  church  gave  to 
the  Commonwealth.  We  have  our  friend  and  townsman, 
whom  we  are  happy  and  proud  to  receive  and  welcome,  and 
to  whom  I  need  not  introduce  you,  —  Honorable  William 
Claflin. 

EX-GOVERNOR  CLAFLIN'S  ADDRESS. 

Mr.  President, — You  said  you  hardly  knew  why  you 
were  placed  in  this  position.  I  can  hardly  conceive  why, 
under  the  circumstances,  you  should  desire  to  bring  in  one  of 
your  neighbors  and  friends  who  certainly  has  less  claim  upon 
this  position  here  to-day.  I  suppose  that  in  selecting  your 
friends  to  make  speeches  you  did  somewhat  as  the  Speaker  of 
the  House  does  when  he  selects  a  judiciary  committee,  —  of 
which  I  think  you  have  been  a  member.  That  is  composed 
of  seven  lawyers  and  one  layman.  The  idea  is,  I  presume, 
that  the  layman  shall  represent  somebody  outside  of  the  pro- 
fession. Sometimes  they  say  that  they  want  a  little  more 
wisdom  than  is  in  the  profession,  so  as  to  bring  in  somebody 
from  the  outside  world  to  represent  outside  wants  and  in- 
terests. 

I  am  glad  to  be  with  you  and,  so  far  as  I  can,  to  represent 
the  state,  but  that  is  in  a  very  small  way.  The  state  in  former 
times,  as  most  of  you  know,  had  the  care  of  all  the  churches, 
in  one  sense.  It  certainly  had  the  care  of  this  church ; 
because  I  believe  it  could  not  even  get  a  meeting-house  —  at 
any  rate,  one  of  them —  without  going  to  the  General  Court  and 
getting  it  to  fix  upon  a  place.  And  what  was  done  then  may 
have  been  a  very  important  thing,  and  probably  was  a  very 
important  thing.  The  state  has  had  the  care,  so  far  as  it 
could  have,  from  that  day  to  this.     To  be  sure,  the  church  has 


COMMEMORx\TIVE     SERVICES.  203 

been  separated  from  the  state  and  the  state  from  the  church, 
although,  in  one  sense,  the  state  was  founded  by  the  church. 
The  great  idea,  I  presume,  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  was  to 
found  a  church  and  from  that  to  found  a  stale,  and  they 
succeeded.  How  much  the  people  of  this  state  owed  to  their 
ideas  no  one  can  tell.  How  much  the  country  owes  to  the 
principles  which  they  have  established  has  been  related  in 
histories  without  number. 

But  the  state  cannot  do  everything,  and  the  less  at  the  pres- 
ent time  it  does  for  the  churches  the  better.  We  want  the 
state  to  do  nothing.  We  want  the  churches  to  be  sure  and 
keep  any  opposing  influence  or  any  opposing  organization 
from  laying  its  hands  on  our  state.  That  I  believe  to  be  the 
work,  so  far  as  the  political  side  of  churches  is  brought  to  our 
remembrance,  to  do.  We  should  feel  it  our  duty  to  keep  the 
state  from  taking  any  position  by  which  the  churches  should 
be  commanded  or  directed  by  its  officers. 

Another  point  on  account  of  which  I  suppose  I  may  have 
been  brought  here  is,  that  although  I  had  no  grandfather  or 
grandmother  on  which  to  make  a  claim  of  association  with 
you  to-day,  I  have  a  wife  whose  grandmother  was  a  member 
of  your  church.  And  I  suppose,  as  many  a  man  has  had  a 
great  position  given  hiin  through  the  influence  of  his  wife,  I 
am  permitted  to  come  here  through  her  influence,  to  some 
extent,  to-day. 

I  am  very  glad  to  meet  you  on  this  joyous  occasion,  and  to 
remember  with  you  what  the  church  has  done  in  this  com- 
munity. As  I  look  back  through  the  long  period  in  which  it 
has  been  established,  and  see  that  it  has  continued  in  the  same 
line  in  which  it  started,  I  am  reminded,  among  other  things, 
that  it  was  always,  for  the  time,  a  liberal  church.  It  was 
noted  for  its  liberality  to  new  influences  and  new  rights  that 
might  come  into  the  community.  It  was  here  that  Whitefield 
preached,  as  has  been  referred  to.  He  came  from  the  Metho- 
dist denomination.  At  least  he  was  associated  with  Wesley, 
and  was  one  of  the  men  who  started  that  great  man  in  the 
work  of  his  life.  His  influence  here  was  accepted  and  felt. 
It  was  potential.  He  came  repeatedly.  I  look  back  upon 
that  as  an  evidence  of  liberality  in  the  church  of  that  day. 


204  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

It  is  rather  singular  how  of  late  this  feeling  of,  not  liberality 
exactly,  of  oneness,  has  taken  hold  of  the  people  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. In  my  youth  I  lived  in  the  good  town  of  Milford, 
where  there  was  what  was  called  an  Orthodox  Congregational 
church.  In  one  corner  of  the  town  was  a  little  Methodist 
building,  in  which  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Tucker 
preached.  He  was  among  the  first  that  I  can  remember  of 
that  denomination.  He  was  very  influential,  easy  of  address, 
and  a  great  favorite  with  the  people  of  the  town.  He  was 
placed  by  their  agency  upon  the  school  committee,  and  he  met 
the  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church.  The  pastor  became 
pleased  with  Mr.  Tucker,  the  same  as  others  did.  Finally,  he 
invited  him  one  day  to  occupy  the  pulpit  of  the  Congregational 
church.  Such  an  event  had  never  been  heard  of  in  that  sec- 
tion. The  church  was  filled  to  overflowing.  Mr.  Tucker 
administered  there  with  great  acceptance,  as  usual.  After- 
wards he  was  often  invited  to  occupy  the  pulpit.  It  was 
thought  to  be  very  wonderful  for  that  time,  no  longer  ago  than 
1830.  But  time  has  rolled  on.  A  good  many  of  our  minis- 
ters, as  we  call  them,  have  become  Congregational  pastors. 
They  seem  to  have  been  taken  in  without  much  reluctance, 
and  with  very  slight  examination,  so  far  as  I  can  learn.  There 
has  been  no  sharp  feeling  of  any  danger  of  the  doctrine  of 
future  probation  in  their  hands.  I  suppose  the  reason  of  that  is, 
that  before  they  were  received  into  the  Congregational  church 
they  all  had  a  period  of  probation  as  a  stepping-stone  in  the 
Methodist  church.  Some  of  them  have  been  very  successful, 
and  some  have  been  transported  to  larger  places  and  to  larger 
fields.  I  am  glad  that  they  are  ready  to  go  when  called,  and 
that  the  Congregational  churches  are  ready  to  receive  them- 
It  is  evidence,  I  think,  of  the  great  liberality  of  the  churches 
and  the  steady  growth  of  true  Christianity  among  our  people. 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  on  what  particular  of  j^our  anniversary 
I  ought  to  speak,  because  the  ground  has  been  so  thoroughly 
gone  over  by  your  former  pastor.  Under  his  preaching  I  sat 
many  years  with  great  acceptance  to  me.  I  have  great  love  for 
him.  To  be  sure  he  had,  as  other  pastors  had,  more  or  less 
trials  that  required  a  good  deal  of  patience,  on  account  of  some 
things  in  the  old  society.     I  presume  that  in  later  years  he  had 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  205 

more  success  that  way  than  at  first.  Some  friction  was  the 
natural  consequence  of  a  young  man  coming  to  an  old  society 
like  this.  At  one  time,  being  a  most  excellent  musician,  very 
fond  of  the  songs  of  God's  house,  he  desired  to  have  a  new 
book  of  worship  brought  in.  Some  of  you  will  no  doubt  I'e- 
member  the  circumstance.  There  was  quite  a  flutter.  The 
matter  occupied  several  meetings  of  the  committee,  if  not  of  the 
congregation.  Finally,  as  near  as  I  can  recollect,  the  tide  of 
sentiment  seemed  to  be  going  against  it.  The  old  books  were 
lying  around,  pretty  well  worn  out,  and  were  likely  to  be  re- 
newed by  new  books  that  would  last  a  long  time.  In  his  feeling 
manner  he  said,  "  I  have  struggled  twenty  years  to  have  new 
books  in  this  place,  and  I  can  struggle  twenty  years  longer." 
Thereupon  the  people  came  down  and  voted  the  new  books. 

Now,  of  the  good  there  was  in  the  people,  their  generosity, 
their  patriotism,  I  believe  every  one  is  ready  to  speak,  and 
every  one  ready  to  join  in  what  has  been  said  in  regard  to  it. 
But  all  these  things  were  things  of  growth.  As  you  look  over 
the  long  record  of  these  pastors  you  will  find,  in  almost  every 
instance,  that  they  were  distinguished  for  their  learning,  gentle 
manners,  steady  perseverance  in  everything  right,  and  that 
they  led  their  congregations  in  that  way.  So  that,  when  long 
years  had  passed,  and  our  good  friend  Furber  came  to  take 
possession  of  the  pulpit,  his  congregation  was  intelligent  and 
cultivated  and  nobly  trained.  To  be  sure,  there  was  more 
work  to  be  done  ;  but  it  was  always  done  in  such  a  gentle  way 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  any  one  to  remain  outside  of 
the  church.  When  I  used  to  attend,  I  used  to  think  it  was 
almost  like  the  order  passed  in  the  early  days,  when  it  was 
said  that  no  man  should  be  a  citizen  or  voter  unless  he  be- 
longed to  the  church.  I  could  scarcely  look  around  the  church 
and  find  any  one  who  did  not  belong  to  the  church,  or  did  not 
hope  to  very  shortly,  under  Mr.  Furber's  preaching. 

But,  my  friends,  I  am  taking  a  good  deal  more  time  than  a 
layman  should.  But  I  could  not  help  saying  a  few  words  in 
an  old  field  where  I  have  worked  more  or  less  for  many  years, 
where  my  children  have  been  in  the  Sunday-school,  and  where, 
during  the  terrible  War  of  the  Rebellion,  we  so  often  met  to 
consult  on  matters  pertaining  to  that   struggle,  and  where  we 


2o6  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

have  met  in  those  most  sacred  and  solemn  funeral  services  over 
dear  ones  laid  away.  These  memories  come  to  me.  They 
come  to  some  of  you.  I  know  that  in  this  day,  to  the  younger 
portion,  they  are  the  records  of  the  past;  but  I  would  impress 
upon  those  of  a  younger  generation,  the  feelings  of  patriotism 
which  must  come  to  them  from  what  has  been  told  them  by 
their  fathers.  That  great  struggle  for  the  renewed  liberty  and 
the  life  of  the  nation  has  passed  away  never  to  return.  There 
may  be  other  struggles,  but  in  the  good  providence  of  God  I 
trust  there  can  be  no  fraternal  struggle,  none  that  will  partake 
of  the  terrible  animosity  and  bitterness  of  that  great  conflict. 
No  question  can  come,  it  seems  to  me,  to  the  people  of  this 
great  country,  that  will  raise  such  feelings  of  hatred  and  ani- 
mosity ;  but  there  may  be  struggles  ;  and  the  right  preparation 
for  them  will  always  be  in  the  line  of  that  instruction  which 
has  so  long  been  given  from  this  pulpit  and  from  pulpits  like 
this  throughout  the  land  ;  and  in  that  pure  education  inculcated 
by  our  fathers,  and  which,  I  trust,  will  descend  to  their  children 
with  faithfulness  and  with  clearnesss,  and  with  that  directness 
which  will  lead  them  into  the  higher  life  which  we  all  hope  to 
attain. 

I  am  very  glad  to  meet  you  on  this  pleasant,  this  agreeable 
occasion.  I  trust  that  this  society,  as  has  been  said  by  my 
predecessors,  may  remain,  when  those  who  are  now  heie  have 
passed  on,  faithful  to  that  truth  which  has  been  so  long  and 
faithfully  preached  under  its  auspices. 

Rev.  Dr.  Furber.  —  When  we  introduced  the  Hymn  and 
Tune  Book  in  i860,  we  had  several  meetings  in  the  chapel  to 
discuss  the  order  of  the  service  of  song.  Governor  Claflin 
worshipped  with  us.  He  took  a  deep  and  helpful  interest  in 
church  affairs.  He  taught  an  adult  class  in  the  Sunday-school. 
He  met  with  us  to  enter  into  these  discussions  about  the  con- 
duct of  congregational  singing.  I  had  rather  leaned  to  the 
practice  of  the  congregation  singing  all  three  hymns,  led  by 
the  choir.  I  remember  that  Governor  Claflin  said :  "  You 
might  let  the  congregation  sing  all  the  hymns  if  you  like,  or 
you  might  let  the  choir  have  the  first  one  all  to  themselves,  and 
let  the  congregation  join  in  the  other  two."     That  struck  me 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  207 

favorably,  and  that  single  remark  decided  the  whole  question, 
and  for  thirty  years  it  has  been  our  custom  in  this  church  to  let 
the  choir  have  the  first  hymn  to  itself,  and  the  congregation  join 
in  the  second  and  third.  For  that  custom,  in  vogue  here 
thirty  years,  we  are  indebted  to   Governor  Claflin. 

The  Chairman.  —  We  had  hoped  to  have  with  us  to-day 
Reverend  Dr.  Clark.  We  had  thought  that  this  anniversary 
should  not  be  confined  to  this  church  and  to  the  recollections 
of  the  affairs  and  memories,  however  precious,  of  this  body  of 
Christians  alone,  but  that  it  should  take  on  a  deeper  and  wider 
significance  by  such  a  contrast  and  comparison  as  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Clark,  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  American  Board,  would 
give  concerning  the  cause  of  Christ  over  the  whole  world. 
Therefore  I  know  how  disappointed  you  will  be  when  I  read 
this   telegram  :  — 

"  A  heavy  cold.     Doctor  forbids  my  going.     Much  disappointed. 

«N.   G.  CLARK." 

It  is  addressed  to  our  pastor,  Mr.  Holmes. 

I  will  ask  Rev.  Mr.  Holmes,  at  this  place,  as  it  is  a  fitting 
opportunity,  to  read  to  the  congregation  several  letters,  which 
are  of  interest,  which  he  has  received. 

Mr.  Holmes  read  a  number  of  letters,'  and  said  :  — 

Before  I  take  my  seat  I  would  like  to  extend  to  you  all  a 
very  cordial  invitation  to  the  collation  prepared  by  the  ladies, 
which  is  to  be  served  in  Associates'  Hall.  The  verses  which 
will  be  sung  at  table  were  brought  by  Dr.  Furber  from 
England.  In  one  of  his  visits  there  he  found  them  in  the 
home  of  John  Wesley.  They  were  inscribed  upon  an  earthen 
tea-urn,  and  were  used  by  John  Wesley  and  others,  probably, 
for  this  very  purpose,  one  verse  being  sung  at  the  beginning 
of  the  meal  and  the  other  at  the  close. 

The  Chairman. — I  do  not  know  whether  the  next  hymn 

'  See  Appendix  for  letters. 


2o8  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

was  in  the  new  collection  used  by  Dr.  Furber  and  Governor 
Claflin,  or  not.  At  any  rate,  we  will  sing  it  for  our  closing 
exercise. 


The  hymn  beginning  "  To  bless  thy  chosen  race,"  was 
then  sung. 

The  assembly  repaired  to  Associates'  Hall,  where  the 
collation  was  served,  and  reassembled  in  the  church  at 
7  P.M. 

The  exercises  were  opened  with  the  Te  Deum,  by  the 
choir,  followed  by  reading  of  the  Scriptures  by  Rev.  W.  A. 
Lamb,  and  prayer  by  Professor  W.  E.  Huntington. 

The  congregation  sang  the  hymn,  "Blow  ye  the  trum- 
pet, blow,"  and  the  choir,  by  request,  rendered  again 
"  Jerusalem,   my  glorious  home." 

The  Chairman.  —  Tn  addition  to  the  letters  which  were 
read  by  the  pastor,  there  are  one  or  two  which  I  should  be 
delighted  to  ask  the  privilege  of  reading  to  you  now,  but  time 
forbids.  One  of  them  is  from  the  Rev.  Professor  W.  G.  T. 
Shedd,  whose  mother  lived  in  the  old  homestead,  later  and 
within  our  memories  of  Mr.  Mai'shall  S.  Rice,  and  was  a 
member  of  this  church.  Another  is  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Daniel 
T.  Fiske,  of  Newburyport,  who  is  connected  closely  with  this 
church,  Mrs.  Fiske  having  been  a  most  esteemed  member 
of  it.  From  this  letter  I  will  read  this  sentence  :  "  I  should  be 
glad  to  be  present  for  the  sake  of  your  honored  and  beloved 
Pastor  Emeritus,  my  esteemed  friend  and  classmate,  whose 
voice  makes  music,  whether  he   sings,   or  speaks,  or  prays." 

Brethren,  the  pure  gold  of  Dr.  Furber's  life  and  teachings 
here  for  the  last  forty  years,  and  the  pure  gold  of  the  life  and 
character  of  his  sainted  companion,  Mrs.  Fui^ber,  need  no 
poor  gilding  from  one  who  is  called  to  preside  on  this 
occasion.  I  dare  not  make  the  attempt.  His  blessing  has 
been  upon  our  fathers,  upon  us,  and  upon  our  children,  day  by 
day    and    year    by    year    for    forty    years.      And    to-night    we 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES. 


209 


return  to  him,  one  and  all,  ever}'  heart  and  every  voice,  our 
blessing  and  our  benediction. 


ADDRESS    OF    THE    REV.    DR.    FURBER. 

I  thank  Judge  Bishop  most  heartily  for  his  kind  words. 
After  having  pronounced  a  benediction  upon  you  so  many 
times  as  I  have,  it  is  extremely  pleasant  to  receive  your  bene- 
diction in  return  through  the  chairman's  lips.  Such  a  cordial 
exchange  of  good  v^^ishes  and  prayers  is  one  of  the  ways  in 
which  the  Lord  permits  us  to  strew  flowers  in  each  other's 
paths  as  we  journey  along. 

I  have  been  most  abundantly  rewarded,  dear  friends,  by  the 
results  of  my  investigation  of  the  history  of  this  church.  When 
the  question  was  proposed,  "  Shall  we  celebrate  our  two  hundred 
and  twenty-fifth  anniversary.?"  I  hesitated,  and  feared  that  we 
could  not  find  sufficient  material  to  make  the  occasion  an  in- 
teresting and  profitable  one,  since  the  record  of  the  first  one 
hundred  years  and  more  of  our  history  was  lost  by  fire.  But 
investigation  has  brought  to  light  many  precious  things  that  I 
knew  nothing  about,  simply  because  I  had  not  taken  pains  to 
find  them.  This  remark  shows  the  importance  of  such  cele- 
brations as  this.  It  compels  us  to  gather  up  our  history  and 
keep  it  from  sinking  into  oblivion.  The  more  we  know  of 
our  church,  of  what  it  has  been,  and  what  it  has  done  in  the 
past,  the  more  our  interest  in  it  is  awakened.  Its  usefulness 
in  the  past  becomes  an  incentive  and  an  inspiration  for  the 
future.  When  the  church  is  lukewarm  and  worldly,  it  stimu- 
lates the  faith  and  courage  of  the  more  spiritual  of  its  members 
to  remember  past  times  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  and  it  helps  them  to  feel  that  the  thing  that  hath  been  is 
the  thing  that  can  be  again,  for  Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yes- 
terday and  to-day  and  forever.  When  we  fail  to  see  as  we 
could  wish  the  fruit  of  our  labors  in  behalf  of  the  unconverted, 
it  is  a  comfort  to  us  to  think  how  much  is  done  by  missionaries 
who  are  supported  by  our  contributions,  how  much  is  done  by 
men  who  have  gone  from  us  into  the  ministry,  or  into  mis- 
sionary work,  and  how  much  is  done  by  the  sons,  grandsons, 
and  great-grandsons  of  men  who  went  into  the  ministry  from 


2IO  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

this  church  generations  ago.  Just  as  a  nation  is  stimulated  in 
times  of  trial  or  peril  by  the  thought  of  past  achievements,  and 
thenames  of  the  places  where  victory  v\^as  gained  are  watchwords 
for  the  future,  so  a  church  which  has  done  as  much  as  this  has 
to  put  eminent  ministers  and  eminent  men  into  positions  of 
great  usefulness,  ought  to  thank  God  for  the  honor  of  such  a 
career,  and  gird  itself  with  new  strength  of  purpose  to  make 
the  future  equal  the  past.  How  little  the  fathers  could  realize 
that  the  little  seed  which  they  planted  would  become  a  tree,  — 
that  the  leaven  of  the  truth  which  they  proclaimed  would  send 
its  influence  far  down  the  stream  of  time,  and  that  they  long 
afterward  in  heaven  would  rejoice  over  the  sheaves  which 
successive  generations  of  reapers  would  gather  in  and  bring 
home. 

Not  to  mention  others,  think  of  that  wonderful  Williams 
family.  Isaac  Williams,  of  this  church,  went  to  Hatfield  and 
preached  fifty-five  years.  His  son  went  to  Lebanon  and 
preached  more  than  fifty  years.  His  son  went  to  Northampton 
and  preached  moi-e  than  fifty  years.  When  I  think  of  that 
Williams  family,  how  it  spread  in  every  direction,  with  its 
ministerial  and  missionary  work,  it  seems  to  me  like  a  vine 
hanging  full  of  clusters. 

Our  church  has  been  blessed  with  a  godly  ministry.  Mr. 
Bushnell,  who  preceded  me,  labored  under  great  disadvantage 
from  the  loss  of  those  who  went  out  to  form  the  Eliot  Church  ; 
but  at  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  and  while  in  the  seminary 
at  New  Haven,  he  preached  in  Stratford,  Conn.,  ten  weeks, 
where  his  labors  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  upwards  of 
seventy  persons.  Mr.  Bates  seemed  always  to  have  in  mind 
the  precept,  "Thou  shalt  hear  the  word  at  my  mouth,  and 
warn  the  people  from  me."  If  he  had  more  warning  than  in- 
vitation in  his  preaching,  it  might  be  because  he  thought  it  was 
the  other  way  with  his  colleague.  Call  him  morbidly  con- 
scientious if  you  will,  the  burden  of  souls  was  on  his  heart, 
and  he  believed  that  both  the  goodness  and  the  severity  of  God 
were  needful  to  save  them.  Dr.  Homer  moved  about  among 
the  people  as  a  father  among  his  children,  loving  and  beloved. 
Mr.  Meriam  we  know  less  about  than  we  could  wish.  He 
published  only  one  sermon,  and  that  was  an  ordination  sermon. 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  211 

He  was  a  man  of  thought  and  of  right  ideas  about  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  and  had  a  happy  skill  in  composition.  The 
solemn  and  powerful  appeal  to  fear,  which  I  quoted  yesterday 
from  one  of  the  sermons  of  Mr.  Cotton,  made  me  feel  what  a 
sacred  place  this  pulpit  has  been  made  by  the  fidelity  with 
which  God's  truth  has  been  proclaimed  here  by  the  ministers 
of  past  times.  Mr.  Hobart  was  one  of  the  leading  divines  of 
New  England,  —  an  exceedingly  modest  man,  but  a  man  of 
genuine  worth.  Judge  Bishop  ought  to  be  thankful  to  God 
that  he  is  descended  from  such  a  man.^  When  Mr.  Eliot,  at 
the  early  age  of  thirty-two,  saw  that  the  Lord  was  about  to  call 
him  to  Himself,  he  was  filled  with  ecstasy  at  the  thought  that 
he  should  so  soon  be  in  heaven  with  one  whom  he  loved  with 
all  his  soul. 

May  God  ever  bless  this  dear  church  with  faithful  ministers, 
with  men  who  shall  not  shun  to  declare  all  the  counsel  of  God, 
with  men  who  shall  know  nothing  among  this  people  but  Jesus 
Christ,  and  him  crucified,  and  whose  hearts'  desire  and  prayer 
to  God  shall  be  that  men  may  be  saved. 

The  Chairman.  —  Brethren,  in  our  thanksgiving  and 
anniversary  we  must  not  omit  a  due  proportion  of  the  laity. 
Although  the  chief  honor  is  due  to  those  by  whom  the  chief 
burden  is  borne,  the  clergy,  the  laity  support  and  stand  by  the 
clergy.  We  heard  this  afternoon  one  of  the  laity,  whom  we 
claim  as  belonging  to  us,  though  he  is  connected  with  the 
great  Methodist  body.  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  intro- 
ducing to  you  one  of  the  laity  in  the  Congregational  denomi- 
nation,—  a  member  of  one  of  the  Congregational  churches 
of  Newton,  and  a  member  of  the  First  Church  in  the  right  of 
his  wife,  a  beloved  member  of  this  church  until  he  took  her 
with  him  to  the  church  of  which  they  are  now  members.  He 
is  a  gentleman  who  supports  the  denomination  not  only  by  his 
faith,  but  by  his  character  and  his  position  in  the  legal  profes- 
sion and  in  public  affairs,  and  who  reflects  honor  upon  the 
religious  body  to  which  he  belongs.  I  introduce  to  you 
Winfield  S.   Slocuin. 

'  Mr.  Joseph  A.  Torrey,  of  the  Berkeley  Temple  Church,  Boston,  another 
of  the  descendants  of  Nehemiah  Hobart  through  the  line  of  Dr.  Joseph  Torrey, 
mentioned  on  p.  89,  was  present  at  these  exercises. 


2T2  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 


ADDRESS    OF    MR.    SLOCUM. 

I  believe  the  historian  of  Newton  has  spoken  of  the  Hydes, 
the  Wards,  the  Prentisses,  and  the  Trowbridges,  who  early  set- 
tled this  town,  and  by  their  piety,  industry,  and  thrift  laid  the 
foundations  of  its  subsequent  prosperity.  As  your  presiding 
officer  has  said  to-night,  I  may  claim  a  privilege  here  in  the 
right  of  my  wife.  In  that  way  I  enjoy  and  feel  that  I  have  a 
part  in  this  celebration.  I  might  say,  in  passing,  what  per- 
haps is  not  generally  known  :  I  desire  to  thank  the  committee 
of  arrangements  for  having  put  this  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  upon  the  aimiversary  also  of  my  wedding. 

He  has  spoken,  too,  of  my  belonging  to  one  of  the  younger 
churches  of  Newton.  We  do  not  expect  to  get  such  a  history 
as  this  church  has,  but  we  are  making  history  very  fast  down 
at  Newtonville,  I  can  assure  you.  I  look  around  upon  these 
walls,  and  I  find  that  this  church  has  had  only  nine  ministers 
in  about  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years.  We  have  had 
five  in  about  twenty  years. 

There  are  some  disadvantages,  too,  that  this  church  has 
labored  under  which  I  believe  our  church  has  never  experienced. 
I  remember  reading  in  that  same  history  that  there  were  the 
vacant  slips,  or  spaces  in  the  middle  of  the  church  ;  that  around 
the  sides  of  the  church  were  the  pews  where  the  people  sat ;  and 
occasionally  some  person,  by  his  worth  or  dignity,  got  the  right 
to  sit  in  the  centre  of  the  church.  There  were  also  the  deacons' 
pews  in  front.  One  of  the  deacons  had  charge  of  the  hour- 
glass. He  set  it  when  the  sermon  commenced,  and  turned  it 
if  the  sermon  was  not  completed  at  the  end  of  the  hour.  They 
tell  us  that  unless  the  glass  was  turned  at  least  once  the  people 
felt  that  the  minister  had  not  done  his  duty  towards  his  congre- 
gation. Another  thing  also  we  have  now  in  Newtonville  which 
you  did  not.  You  had  no  fire  in  your  church  for  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two  years  after  it  was  formed.  But  then  you  had  the 
noon  houses,  and  there,  between  services,  by  the  glowing  fires, 
people  warmed  their  stiffened  limbs,  drank  their  cider,  and 
ate  their  homely  lunch.  They  tell  us  that  the  farmers  occa- 
sionally rolled  a  barrel  of  cider  into  the  basement  of  the 
church  "  to  add  to  the  good  cheer  of  the  Lord's  dav."     Evi- 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  213 

dently  that  was  before  the  constitutional  amendment  had  been 
discussed. 

It  carries  us  back  a  long  way.  I  see  upon  this  side  of  the 
pulpit  the  stars  and  stripes,  and  upon  the  other  side  the  banner 
of  Old  England.  I  rejoice  in  the  history  of  this  church  under 
these  two  governments.  Think  of  it  for  a  moment.  We  are  as 
far  down  from  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  from  the  Boston 
tea-party,  from  the  Stamp  Act,  as  they  were  on  the  other  side. 
When  this  church  was  formed  John  Bunyan  was  living,  Milton 
was  living;  it  was  the  time  of  the  conflict  between  Puritanism 
and  the  Church  of  England.  Cromwell  had  just  died.  The 
fruits  of  the  Reformation  had  begun  to  ripen.  But  conflicts 
were  still  going  on.  The  3'ear  before  this  church  was  formed, 
united  Christendom  fought  the  celebrated  battle  of  St.  Gotthard. 
In  that  fight  of  Christianity  against  Mohammedanism  there 
began  that  series  of  victories  by  which  the  religion  of  the  false 
prophet  was  stamped  out  of  Europe.  It  was  twenty  years 
before  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  by  which  religious 
liberty  in  France  was  destroyed  and  thousands  of  families  were 
obliged  to  flee  from  their  country.  That  was  the  time  in  which 
this  church  was  founded.  We  connect  that  time  with  the 
present. 

It  is  said  that  history  is  the  memory  of  the  race,  and  that 
memorial  days  and  monuments  are  the  record  of  that  history. 
How  it  connects  the  past  with  the  present !  For  instance,  West- 
minster Abbey  connects  the  England  of  the  Stuarts,  the  Plan- 
tagenets,  the  Tudors,  with  that  of  Gladstone,  of  Falmerston  ; 
the  England  of  Shakespeare  and  Chaucer  with  the  England  of 
Tennyson  and  Browning.  And  so,  in  this  church  where  we 
stand  to-day,  we  have  the  history  of  those  times  connected 
with  the  times  in  which  we  live.  And  I  think  we  can  well 
stay  here  and  dwell  upon  this,  not  simply  dwell  upon  the  past, 
but  take  a  new  consecration,  —  a  new  love  for  the  work  that  is 
before  us. 

You  remember  that  scene  in  the  Passover,  how  the  son  asked 
of  his  father  the  meaning  of  the  ceremony,  and  the  father  I'e- 
plied  that  God  had  brought  them  out  with  a  strong  hand  and 
an  outstretched  arm  from  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  therefore 
they  celebrated  the  Passover. 


214  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

I  want  just  for  a  moment  to  call  your  attention  to  another 
thought.  I  can  better  do  it,  it  seems  to  me,  if  we  will  con- 
sider for  a  moment,  upon  this  anniversary  day,  with  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  years  of  history  back  of  us,  what  it 
would  be  to  our  fathers  and  our  ancestors,  —  what  this  world 
would  be,  or  would  have  been,  — with  the  hope  of  Christ 
blotted  out.  You  remember  Pilate's  sneering  question  to 
Christ,  "  What  is  truth?"  He  expressed  the  sentiment  of  his 
age.  For  you  remember  that  Caesar  said  thei'e  was  no  future 
life;  that  Pliny  said  it ;  that  Tacitus  said,  "  If  there  is  a  place 
for  pious  souls,  we  do  not  know  it."  Cicero  himself  says,  "  If 
thei-e  is  a  future,  the  gods  only  know  it."  And  Ingersoll,  in 
our  day,  when  he  stood  and  pronounced  his  funeral  oration 
over  the  lifeless  form  of  a  loved  one,  closed  with  words  some- 
thing like  these:  "Proudly  he  entered  the  darkness  or  the 
dawn  ;  he  passed  to  that  vast  realm  of  silence  or  of  joy, 
where  the  innumerable  dwell."  Tacitus  said  that  if  there  is  a 
future,  then  only  a  god  may  know  it.  Roman  and  American 
alike,  without  the  gospel  of  Christ,  are  without  hope.  Paul 
himself  wrote  that  without  Christ  we  are  of  all  men  most 
wretched.  But  he  adds  the  glorious  refrain  in  which  we  and 
our  fathers  have  trusted,  "  But  now  is  Christ  raised  from  the 
dead  and  become  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept."  We,  as 
our  fathers  did,  turn  to  the  words  of  our  beloved  Master  and 
read:  "  Let  not  your  hearts  be  troubled;  ye  believe  in  God, 
believe  also  in  me.  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions. 
If  it  were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you." 

So  we  gather  here  to-night  in  the  faith  of  the  fathers.  We 
seem  almost  to  be  in  their  presence,  and  I  think  we  can  almost 
sing  together  with  them  the  words  of  the  hymn,  — 

"  Till  I  fancy  but  thinly  the  veil  intervenes 
Between  that  fair  city  and  me." 

I  would  like  once  more  to  turn  to  words  of  the  Apostle, 
where  he  says:  "Seeing  therefore  we  are  compassed  about 
with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  let  us  run  with  patience  the 
race  that  is  set  before  us,  looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and 
finisher  of  our  faith." 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  215 

The  Reverend  Dr.  S.  F.  Smith  then  said :  — 

Through  the  kindness  of  the  president  of  the  meeting,  I  have 
obtained  permission  to  indulge  in  a  Hne  of  thought  suggested 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Furber.  He  has  provoked  in  my  mind  some 
recollections  which  it  seems  to  me  are  worthy  of  our  thought 
on  such  an  occasion.  Dr.  Furber  spoke  of  the  Williams 
family,  and  the  vast  influence  exerted  by  the  various  and 
successive  branches  of  it.  My  thoughts  recurred  at  once  to 
that  member  of  the  Williams  family  who  was  the  founder  of 
Williams  College.  And  in  thinking  of  Williams  College,  I 
remembered  that  once  upon  a  time,  in  a  little  country  town  in 
the  State  of  Connecticut,  a  Christian  mother  took  up  her  little 
infant  boy  who  was  tottering  about  the  floor  and  said,  "  This 
child  I  dedicate  to  God  as  a  missionary  to  the  heathen."  In 
the  providence  of  God,  in  due  time  that  child  was  converted, 
and  his  attention  was  turned  to  an  education  and  the  work  of 
the  ministry.  When  he  went  to  Williams  College,  he  found 
a  few  young  men  of  kindred  spirit  with  himself,  and  these 
young  men  frequently  conversed  together  upon  the  duty  of 
Christians  to  the  heathen  world.  One  day,  as  the  narrative  tells 
us,  when  the  young  men  were  walking  together  in  the  hay- 
fields,  on  a  summer  afternoon,  there  came  up  a  heavy  cloud, 
and  there  were  signs  of  thunder  and  lightning  and  rain. 
"  Come,"  said  one  of  the  brethren,  "  let  us  kneel  down  behind 
this  haystack,  and  pray  on  this  subject."  And  behind  that 
haystack,  by  these  young  men,  members  of  Williams  College, 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions 
was  prayed  into  existence.  You  can  easily  see  the  connection 
between  the  Williamses  of  Newton  and  the  great  work  of 
American  missions  to  the  heathen  in  India  and  Ceylon,  in 
Burmah  and  China,  in  Central,  Eastern,  and  Western  Africa, 
in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  in  all  Micronesia,  and  wherever 
the  beautiful  feet  of  them  that  publish  salvation  have  gone 
abroad  from  these  American  shores.  Hail,  the  First  Church  in 
Newton,  the  mother  of  all  American  missions,  of  every  de- 
nomination, to  the  heathen  world  ! 

Dr.  Smith  sat  down  amid  great  applause. 


2l6  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

The  hymn,  "  Lift  up  your  heads,  ye  mighty  gates,"  was 
then  sung  by  the  congregation. 

The  Chairman.  —  The  first-born  child  is  certainly  not 
loved  less  than  any  succeeding  offspring ;  and  if  the  First 
Church  in  Newton  loves  any  of  her  children  better  than  the 
others,  it  is  her  first  child,  the  church  at  West  Newton. 
Brethren,  you  may  make  the  application  in  either  way,  —  that 
this  church  loves  them  all  so  much  that  she  cannot  distinguish, 
or  that  she  has  pre-eminence  in  her  affection  for  that  over 
which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Patrick  is  the  clergyman.  At  all  events, 
the  love  which  this  church  gives  out  to  that  church  and  to  her 
minister,  and  the  good-will  and  heart  that  we  give  to  them  and 
him,  when  we  see  them  in  the  pews  and  him  in  the  pulpit,  are 
not  excelled  by  any  other  love  or  good-will  that  we  feel  for 
any  who  come  here. 

ADDRESS   OF    REV.   HENRY   J.   PATRICK. 

I  have  noticed  that  you  are  doing  things  to-day  after  the  old 
fashion  ;  but  there  is  one  exception.  The  fathers  never  erected 
a  platform  in  front  of  a  pulpit,  and  they  never  went  out  there 
and  spoke  extemporaneously.  They  stood  behind  the  pulpit 
and  read.  I  shall  be  the  single  exception  this  evening,  and  do 
as  the  fathers  did.  You  will  excuse  me,  therefore,  if  I  follow 
in  their  fashion  and  read  to  you  from  behind  the  pulpit.  It 
will  seem  more  natural. 

The  eldest  daughter  to  her  venerable  mother,  —  Congratula- 
tions upon  her  age  and  health. 

First-born  in  this  household,  she  was  thinking  herself  quite 
aged  among  her  younger  sisters,  and  was  counting  a  century 
and  eight  years  a  respectable  age  to  attain,  but  coming  to-day 
to  look  up  into  the  face  of  her  mother  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  vears  old,  and  reminded  also  by  her  representative 
here,  that  she  has  a  grandmother  moving  on  toward  three 
hundred,  she  grows  young  in  the  contrast.  She  is  happy  to 
be  called  back  to  the  ancestral  home  and  to  join  in  these  birth- 
day festivities.  It  shows  the  mother's  remission  of  the  eldest 
daughter's  early  waywardness,  independence,  and  persistence. 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  21 7 

Doubtless  these  pastors  have  chronicled  in  their  historical 
sermons  what  a  tough  time  this  first-born  had  in  setting  up 
housekeeping  for  herself.  She  began,  as  daughters  usually  do, 
with  the  mere  hint  to  her  mother  that  she  would  like  a  home 
of  her  own  ;  but  the  mother  said,  "  No,  I  cannot  spare  you  ;" 
but  she  kept  on  increasingly  earnest  in  her  petition,  and  the 
mother  kept  on  sa3'ing  ''  No  "  with  increasing  emphasis.  It 
turned  out  as  it  always  does  in  such  cases, —  the  more  the  mother 
said  "■  No,"  the  more  the  daughter  said  "■  I  will  ;  "  and  she 
showed  her  persistence  by  actually  calling  to  her  aid  the  State, 
after  a  vain  continuous  teasing  of  eleven  years.  The  General 
Court  decreed  the  separation  in  this  month  of  October,  177S,  and 
the  line  of  division  was  drawn  between  the  domain  of  mother 
and  daughter,  ''  beginning  upon  the  bank  of  the  Charles  River, 
at  the  south-east  corner  of  the  farm  possessed  by  Samuel  Wood- 
ward, by  direct  line  to  the  south-easterly  part  of  land  improved 
by  Daniel  Fuller,  and  to  continue  in  the  same  straight  course 
to  Watertown  line." 

There  are  reminiscences  of  earnest  strife  over  that  invisible 
line,  till  it  was  made  to  materialize  in  a  certain  garden,  and 
strike  through  a  squash,  the  big  end  of  which  falling  on  the 
daughter's  side,  her  domain  was  named  in  derision,  "  Squash 
End  ;  "  but  it  was  enough  to  answer,  as  did  Lawyer  Ward, 
when  bantered  on  his  residence  at  "  Squash  End,"  that  "  the 
seeds  of  the  squash  were  mostly  in  the  end  of  it."  The  lately 
issued  King's  Handbook  of  Newton  should  be  corrected  in  its 
mistake  of  wrongly  applying  the  opprobrious  epithets  of  the 
warring  parties;  "Bell  Hack"  belonging  to  the  East,  and 
"  Squash  End,"  to  the  West  Parishes,  respectively. 

But  the  bitterness  of  those  days  faded  away  in  due  time,  and 
now  is  only  the  dimmest  and  most  distant  reminiscence.  Some 
one  told  me  the  other  day  of  a  gravestone  on  which  were 
carved  the  names  of  husband  and  wife  together,  and  beneath, 
the  dubious  legend,  "  Their  warfare  is  ended."  Mother  and 
daughter,  in  this  case,  ended  their  warfare,  not  in  the  silence 
of  the  grave,  but  in  the  fellowship  of  life  and  love. 

Indeed,  it  revealed  a  relenting  on  the  part  of  the  mother 
that,  within  a  month  after  the  organization  of  the  church  at 
West  Newton,  the  mother  church  honored  the  petition  of  the 


2l8  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

daughter  for  a  portion  of  the  communion  ware  by  voting, 
"  after  some  conversation,"  as  the  record  runs,  four  pewter 
tankards  and  one  pewter  basin  as  a  present  to  the  Second 
Church.  By  a  fortunate  discovery  one  of  these  tankards  came 
to  light  at  our  Centennial,  and  we  have  placed  it  in  our  Holy 
of  Holies  as  a  reminder  of  our  mother's  early  generosity,  and 
of  that  day  of  small  things  when  pewter  was  of  necessity  a 
substitute  for  silver.  I  have  brought  it  over  to  show  to  you  ; 
and,  if  inanimate  things  have  voices,  it  will  speak  most  im- 
pressively of  the  multitude  from  both  churches  who  have 
received  the  wine  poured  forth  from  it,  who  have  gone  to 
drink  the  fruit  of  the  vine  new   in  the  Father's  kingdom. 

We  cannot  wonder  so  much  at  the  reluctant  consent  of  the 
mother  to  the  daughter's  going  forth,  when  we  read  the  names 
of  the  organizing  members  of  the  West  Newton  church, 
and  recognize  the  family  ties  which  bound  them  to  those 
left  behind  :  Ward,  Jackson,  Fuller,  Adams,  Crafts, 
Woodward,  —  names  suggestive  at  once  of  the  old  Newton 
Precinct.  And  these  names  are  significant  as  well  of  the 
character  of  our  fathers  ;  for  of  the  twenty-seven  on  the  first 
roll  of  the  Second  Church,  all  of  whom,  with  a  single  excep- 
tion, came  from  the  mother  church,  there  was  not  one  who 
wore  the  ornament  of  a  middle  name.  They  were  such 
earnest  men  that  they  had  no  time,  breath,  nor  ink  to  waste  on 
such  a  luxury. 

And  they  were  as  strong  as  they  were  earnest,  if  names 
mean  anything;  for,  with  the  exception  of  one  Alexander  and 
one  Experience,  they  all  bore  good  Scripture  names, — four 
Josephs,  three  Samuels,  two  Josiahs,  two  Jonathans,  one 
Joshua,  two  Elizabeths,  two  Marys,  a  Lydia,  Lois,  Ruth,  and 
Tabitha. 

A  brother  behind  me,  who  ought  to  know  (Dr.  Alexander 
McKenzie),  suggests  the  inquiry  whether  Alexander  is  not  a 
Scripture  name. 

I  acknowledge  correction.  The  mistake  was  a  natural  one, 
as  the  other  names  were  all  of  ^ood  men.  I  am  only  sorry 
that  one  of  those  early  members  was  named  from  the  copper- 
smith who  did  the  Apostle  so  much  harm,  probably  by 
making  coppers  for  people  to  drop  into  the  contribution-box. 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  219 

But  not  only  were  the  families  of  the  two  churches  closely 
allied,  but  there  was  added  another  bond,  which  had  a  stronger, 
more  positive  influence  in  healing  the  soreness  of  separation. 
Within  three  months  two  young  men  were  ordained  as  pastors, 
— William  Greenough  at  West  Newton,  and  Jonathan  Homer  at 
this  place.  They  became  intimate,  lifelong  friends,  dwelling 
side  by  side  fifty  years,  holding  frequent  conferences,  and  by 
their  cordial  fellowship  pi'omoting  pleasant  relations  between 
the  parishes,  and  softening  the  asperities  of  the  disputes  which 
continued  to  break  out  touching  the  common  ministerial  wood- 
lot.  These  men  were  so  unlike  in  character  as  to  become  all 
the  stronger  friends.  It  is  now  an  open  secret  that  by  the 
strong  bonds  of  Mr.  Greenough's  influence  Dr.  Homer  was 
held  from  breaking  away  in  the  great  doctrinal  defection  of 
those  days.  Dr.  Gilbert,  who  was  Mr.  Greenough's  successor, 
has  left  on  record  an  illustration  of  this  influence.  At  a 
council  in  a  neighboring  town  where  the  test  question  came 
up.  Dr.  Homer  waited  till  he  saw  Mr.  Greenough's  hand 
go  up  in  the  minority,  when  he  followed,  and  being  bantered 
about  it  replied,  "  I'll  never  leave  Brother  Grenno."  These 
good  men  left  a  legacy  of  goodly  fellowship,  and  since  those 
days  naught  has  occurred  to  disturb  the  pleasant  relations  of 
mother  and  daughter.  The  pastors  have  mingled  in  associa- 
tion, conference,  and  by  exchange  of  pulpits. 

It  is  my  privilege  to  bring  a  personal  testimony  covering  a 
period  of  nearly  thirty  years.  When  I  came  into  this  family 
of  churches  I  received  a  cordial  greeting  from  the  pastor  of 
this  church,  whom  I  found  to  be  the  truly  "beloved  Daniel" 
of  our  brotherhood,  and  to  whose  wise  counsels  and  genial 
fellowship  I  am  glad  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  as 
greater  than  to  any  other  brother.  No  man  was  more  wel- 
come to  the  West  Newton  pulpit.  One  of  the  former  deacons 
of  that  church  used  to  call  him  "  the  silver  trumpet,"  doubtless 
because  of  his  clear  tones  and  the  no  uncertain  sound  he  gave. 

And  then  he  had  a  better  half  with  whom,  on  our  exchanges, 
it  was  a  great  privilege  and  delight,  in  those  former  days  of 
two  services,  to  spend  the  hours  between.  What  a  grand 
woman  she  was,  and  what  impressions  of  lofty  thought  she  left 
upon  us  in  every    interview  !     In   this  beautiful  memorial  of 


220  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

flowers  to  those  who  have  gone  home,  our  thoughts  cluster 
about  her  memor}^,  fragrant  with  good  deeds. 

And  this  ministerial  fellowship  is  perpetuated  in  the  present 
pastorate,  may  I  not  say,  without  any  weakening  or  abatement. 

In  these  latter  days  there  has  been  added  another  bond  unit- 
ing these  churches  which  has  already  revealed  its  influence,  — 
the  bond  of  the  steel  rail.  These  two  miles  have  been  constantly 
increasing  in  length,  till  it  seemed  quite  a  journey  from  one 
meeting-house  to  the  other,  and  the  lack  of  public  communica- 
tion proved  a  barrier  to  fellowship.  Our  churches  had  less 
and  less  to  do  with  each  other.  Now  our  Circuit  road  has 
renewed  the  sti'ength  of  the  bond,  and  it  has  materialized  in 
our  Congregational  Club,  which  has  already  unified  our 
denominational  body  in  this  city. 

We  felt  sorry  when  you  passed  your  two  hundredth  birthday 
so  quietly  ;  but  the  sad  days  of  the  war  were  upon  us,  and  you 
had  no  heart  for  celebrations.  To-day  you  are  making  full 
amends. 

Again  the  first-born  brings  her  congratulations  to  her  ven- 
erable mother  to-day  on  the  increase  of  her  family.  She 
enjoyed  the  monopoly  of  an  only  child  sixty-four  years. 
Then  the  Eliot  was  added,  and  in  succession,  Auburndale, 
the  North,  the  Central,  and  the  Highlands  were  born  into  the 
family,  and  now  "  we  are  seven." 

With  pride  can  the  mother  look  upon  her  six  daughters  and 
rejoice  in  the  growth  and  vigor  which  she  finds  in  each  house- 
hold. Present  prosperity  only  betokens  a  more  glorious 
future. 

The  successive  celebrations  of  semi  and  quarter  centennials 
will  follow  one  another,  in  which  we  shall  mark  our  progress. 

In  six  years  we  shall  expect  a  summons  from  our  big  sister 
Eliot  to  our  Congregational  cathedral  of  stone,  in  its  elegance 
and  beauty,  to  mark  fifty  years  of  her  history,  and  those  of  us 
who  may  be  there  will  find  that  the  family  is  still  increasing. 

These  hills  and  valleys  are  to  be  covered  more  thickly  with 
beautiful  residences,  the  uninhabited  spaces  on  our  Circuit 
road  to  be  filled  up  with  new  communities,  and  their  intelli- 
gence will  be  sure  to  demand  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  the 
church  of  our   fathers  with  its    simple  polity  and  forms,  its 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  221 

sound  doctrine,  strengthening  fellowship,  and  enterprising 
spirit. 

With  our  sixteen  hundred  members  in  our  seven  churches, 
we  lead  our  sister  denominations,  and  hope  to  go  on  increasing 
in  strength  and  in  good  works.  We  have  only  friendly  words 
and  helping  hands  for  all  who  love  our  common  Master  and 
are  strong  for  the  upbuilding  of  his  kingdom  in  our  commu- 
nities. 

We  turn  from  these  festivities  craving  the  benediction  of  the 
mother  of  us  all,  who,  as  queen,  held  sole  spiritual  sway  over 
all  this  domain  for  one  hundred  and  sixteen  years,  but  now 
counts  thirty-one  churches  and  religious  societies  covering  the 
same  territory. 

And  we  will  leave  our  best  wishes  and  most  devout  prayers 
for  her  prosperity  as  she  moves  on  through  her  third  century 
of  life. 

The  Chairman.  —  If  the  mother  loves  most  her  first-born, 
she  takes  the  greatest  pride  in  that  child  which  has  achieved 
most.  And  we  look  with  pride,  unmingled  by  the  slightest 
trace  of  rivalry,  at  the  great  church  and  work  carried  on  in  it 
by  the  colony  which  went  from  this  church  and  is  now  at  New- 
ton. Large  as  the  work  of  this  church  in  its  scope  has  been, 
that  church  is  starting  upon  a  career  which  has  a  pi"omise  of 
usefulness  larger  than  that  of  the  mother.  And  we  welcome 
here  the  distinguished  pastor  of  the  church  at  Newton,  the 
Eliot  Church. 

ADDRESS    OF    REV.    WOLCOTT    CALKINS,    D.D. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  dear  Brethren,  —  I  have  listened 
with  profound  gratitude  to  the  remarks  of  Brother  Patrick,  the 
minister  of  the  Second  Church,  and  of  the  first  offspring  from 
this  church.  I  always  knew  what  a  blessing  it  was  to  be  a 
daughter  of  this  church  ;  but  I  never  knew  before  how  grateful 
we  ought  to  be  that  we  were  not  the  first  child.  The  oldest 
child  always  has  a  hard  time  of  it,  as  all  the  experiments  are 
tried  in  the  beginning.  The  mother  found  out,  by  the  ex- 
perience which  has  just  been  recounted,  that  Eliot  Church,  her 
second  daughter,  could  bear  a  good  deal  more  letting  alone. 


222  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

On  Sunday.  April  i,  1888,  in  preparation  for  the  laying  of 
the  corner-stone  of  our  third,  and,  as  we  hope,  our  last  meeting- 
house, we  opened  with  great  reverence  the  casket  taken  from 
the  corner-stone  of  our  second  meeting-house,  consumed  by 
fire,  Feb.  16,  1887.  We  found  within,  another  casket,  still 
sealed,  which  had  been  placed  by  the  founders  of  Eliot  Church 
under  the  corner-stone  of  their  first  meeting-house  in  1845. 
The  reading  of  the  papers  therein  preserved  made  a  solemn 
impression  on  our  community.  A  letter  from  the  minister  and 
committee  of  the  First  Church  revealed  the  immense  sacrifice 
you  made  then,  in  releasing  many  of  your  most  efficient  mem- 
bers to  form  the  new  church.  But  it  was  a  generous  and  free- 
will offering.  I  felt  then,  and  1  feel  still,  that  the  enterprise 
which  we  have  now  completed  does  not  deserve  to  be  called  a 
sacrifice.  I  have  expressly  repudiated  all  claim  to  praise  or 
honor  for  the  work  we  have  done.  To  God  be  all  the  praise. 
And  to  the  noble  band  of  men  and  women  whom  you  gave  so 
freely,  we  now  accord  our  hearty  gratitude. 

Your  early  history  sheds  some  light  on  a  recent  event  in 
ours.  I  have  discovered  from  your  recitals,  that  you  had  no 
fire  in  your  meeting-house  for  the  first  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years.  Perhaps  our  big  fire,  two  years  ago,  was  making  up 
arrearages  !  At  all  events,  whether  cemented  by  fire  or  by 
love,  we  are  one  now,   and  we  have  always  been  one. 

You  have  been  making  a  very  remarkable  record  in  these 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years.  A  few  years  ago  I  at- 
tended the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  First 
Church  in  Hartford,  where  my  own  ministry  began.  I  was 
pained  to  learn  how  grievous  the  dissensions  and  the  decay  of 
vital  piety  had  been  during  the  prevalence  of  the  disastrous 
half-way  covenant.  The  contrast  which  your  history  presents, 
in  almost  every  feature,  is  very  grateful.  Some  dissensions 
have  been  discovered.  Family  quarrels,  church  quarrels,  and 
political  quarrels  were  inevitable  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries.  But  in  comparison  with  the  scandals  of 
many  New  England  churches  of  those  times,  your  record  is 
almost  without  a  blemish.  We  unite  with  you  in  thanksgivings 
to  God  for  your  glorious  history. 

I  desire   to   express   my   thankfulness  for  the  affection  and 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  223 

sympathy  we  have  always  received  from  you.  When  we  were 
burned  out,  you  made  the  generous  proposal  that  we  should 
come  back  to  the  old  home.  We  received  many  such  offers 
of  hospitality,  some  from  neighbors  nearer  at  hand,  but  none 
that  compared  with  this  in  the  appeal  to  our  hearts.  On  the 
Sunday  of  that  disaster,  the  minister  of  Eliot  Church  was 
absent.  Dr.  Furber  was  sent  for  to  pray  for  the  desolate 
church,  and  preach  to  them  in  their  distress.  He  would  have 
been  sent  for,  all  the  same,  if  I  had  been  at  home.  My  dear 
friend  !  you  welcomed  me  to  my  arduous  work  by  your  side. 
You  have  been,  for  ten  years,  my  counsellor  and  my  father  in 
Christ.  And  another  of  my  intimate  friends,  an  old  friend  in 
college  and  in  Hartford,  has  been  called  to  continue  your  great 
work  in  this  church.  Ministers  of  the  First  Church,  and  of  all 
the  churches  in  this  city,  we  stand  together  in  a  communion 
which  is  nearest  to  heaven  of  all  the  fellowships  which  this 
world  affords.  I  want  the  historical  discourses  preached  here 
last  Sunday  repeated  to  Eliot  Church.  The  whole  city  ought 
to  feel  the  impulse  for  good  flowing  from  a  history  which  has 
few  parallels  in  the  whole  country. 

Beloved  mother  of  all  our  churches  :  Your  children  rise  up 
and  call  you  blessed  !  Some  of  your  children  are  not  follow- 
ing you  in  all  your  ways  ;  a  hen  sometimes  hatches  a  progeny 
not  of  her  own  brood.  Some  of  the  offspring  of  this  church 
have  taken  to  the  water  ;  but  none  of  them  will  repudiate  their 
relationship  to  the  dear  old  mother,  or  foster-mother,  least  of 
all  Eliot  Church,  now  grown  to  be  a  little  larger  than  the 
mother,  but  still  a  most  dutiful  and  aflectionate  child. 

The  next  church  anniversary  in  Newton,  I  believe,  will  be 
the  semi-centennial  of  Eliot  Church.  I  feel  as  if  it  had  already 
begun.  I  wish  we  could  prolong  these  services,  while  we  are 
in  the  spirit.  The  first  invitation  to  that  sweet  festival  I  give 
now  to  our  revered  and  beloved  mother. 

The  anthem  "  Before  Jehovah's  awful  throne  "  was  then 
sung  by  the  choir  and  chorus. 

The  Chairman.  —  We  come  with  the  utmost  reverence  and 
the   most   filial   emotions   toward    our  mother.       The   ancient 


224  ^^^     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

church  at  Cambridge  is  grander  now,  if  possible,  than  ever 
before  in  the  years  of  her  history.  The  "  matchless  Mitchel," 
who  filled  the  pastorate  of  the  church  at  Cambridge  when  our 
church  came  away,  was  a  student  in  Harvai"d  College  during 
the  pastorate  of  the  famous  Shepard  ;  and  said,  as  the  state- 
inent  runs,  that  he  "  could  conceive  of  no  greater  privilege, 
except  to  be  in  heaven  itself,  than  to  sit  for  four  years  under 
the  preaching  of  such  a  man."  It  is  a  great  trust  which  is 
committed  to  the  man  who  stands  in  the  pulpit  of  the  Shepard 
Church  in  Cambridge,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  thousands  of 
students  in  the  great  University  preaches  by  his  words  and  by 
his  influence.  It  is  a  trust  which  has  been  nobly  filled,  but 
never  more  nobly  than  by  the  present  incumbent.  Our  devout 
gratitude  to  God  for  the  history  of  the  mother  church  is  attested 
by  the  welcome  of  our  hearts  to  Dr.  McKenzie. 

ADDRESS   OF    REV.   ALEXANDER   McKENZIE,   D.D. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren,  —  I  have  listened  with  a 
great  deal  of  satisfaction  to  the  praises  of  the  First  Church  in 
Cambridge,  as  they  have  fallen  from  the  lips  of  every  speaker, 
I  believe,  this  afternoon  and  evening.  There  is  a  certain  pride 
that  we  take  in  what  we  do  ourselves,  but  it  is  doubled  or 
trebled  when  the  same  thing  is  done  by  our  children.  I  shall 
make  haste  to  inform  our  church,  when  I  go  back,  that  the 
American  Board  was  founded  in  Cambridge.  I  was  not 
aware  of  that  before.  I  knew  that  the  first  missionary  tract 
was  printed  in  Cambridge ;  I  knew  that  Eliot's  Indian  Bible 
was  printed  there  ;  but  I  did  not  know  that  the  American 
Board  was  founded  there.     I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it. 

We  take  great  pleasure  in  the  prosperity  of  this  church.  We 
feel  paternal  and  maternal  pride  in  the  glory  of  this  old  church. 
I  bring  our  sincere  and  affectionate  congratulations,  I  cannot 
help  saying,  standing  so  far  from  the  man  himself,  though  I 
happen  to  be  in  the  same  line,  that  it  was  a  very  great  advan- 
tage to  the  thirty  families  who  founded  this  church,  to  have 
been  under  the  ministry  of  Thomas  Shepard.  The  same 
thing  maybe  said  of  "the  matchless  Mitchel,"  who  entered 
into  Thomas    Shepard's    labor.     It  marks    something  of  the 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  225 

large-heartedness  there  was  in  Mitchel  that  he  took  the  parish, 
the  parsonage,  and  the  widow.  He  took  the  whole.  The 
students  gathered  together  to  sing  their  marriage  songs  when 
Margaret  Shepard  became  Margaret  Mitchel.  You  may  ac- 
cept this  as  typical  of  the  sweetness  of  character  which  has 
marked  the  history  of  your  church  during  two  centuries  and 
a  quarter. 

The  history  of  this  church,  like  the  history  of  all  these  Con- 
gregational churches,  is  much  older  than  appears  by  the  cal- 
endar. We  shall  not  be  able  to  appreciate  what  this  church 
was,  and  is,  until  we  perceive  where  it  enters  into  God's  pur- 
poses, and  moves  on  under  his  sovereign  decrees  to  accomplish 
his  will  on  earth.  I  trace  these  churches  to  a  time  when  a 
godly  man,  somewhere  in  Chaldea,  sad  over  the  unrighteous- 
ness of  his  time,  longed  to  go  out  where  he  could  find  a  new 
country.  He  was  called  of  God,  and  he  went  out  to  be  the 
father  of  a  nation.  He  was  the  founder  of  this  First  Church  of 
Newton.  After  him  came  the  sons  of  Jacob  and  the  Egyptian 
bondage.  God  called  a  man  from  the  sheepfold  to  deliver  his 
people  out  of  captivity  and  to  be  their  law-giver.  From  the 
sheepfold  again  he  called  one  to  be  psalmist  of  the  earth,  the 
great  king,  whose  name  the  Son  of  man  was  not  unwilling  to 
bear.  Then  comes  the  time  when  a  star  hovers  over  the  town 
where  David  was  born,  and  there  comes  forth  one  to  be  a  light 
to  the  Gentiles.  He  calls  men  from  their  fishing-boats  that 
they  may  be  fishers  of  men.  Then  comes  that  mysterious 
reaching  out  of  the  gospel  to  Rome.  Nobody  knows  who 
carried  it  there ;  some  strangers,  merchants  very  probably, 
some  men  whose  business  had  taken  them  from  Rome  to 
Jerusalem.  Then  comes  the  time  when  Gregory,  the  pontiff', 
could  do  what  Gregory,  the  priest,  had  been  forbidden  to  do  ; 
and  Augustine,  with  his  companions,  set  their  feet  on  the  island 
where,  one  hundred  and  forty  years  before,  Hengist  landed  to 
bring  in  the  Saxon  rule. 

It  all  goes  back,  step  by  step,  to  the  time  when  God  said, 
"  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  people,  and  in  thee  shall  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  It  is  the  apostolic  succession 
from  a  time  before  there  was  a  Christian  disciple,  or  a  Moses, 
or  an  Isaiah.      How  beautifully  God  had  prepared  the  way  for 


226  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

these  men  from  Rome  to  enter  into  England  !  How  God 
had  pi-epared  everything  for  them  in  King  Ethelbert  and  his 
good  Queen  Bertha  !  The  new  life  went  on,  and  by  and  by 
men  grew  discontented  under  the  rule  which  was  over  them. 
They  said,  "  We  are  Englishmen,  and  cannot  have  an  Italian 
Pope."  Then  they  had  an  English  Pope.  But  at  length 
they  said,  "  We  cannot  have  any  Pope  at  all."  They  broke 
with  Italian  doctrines  and  with  Italian  usages.  Then  they 
broke  with  the  idea  that  the  church  is  subordinate  to  the  state. 
God  lifted,  in  his  wise  providence,  to  the  throne  of  England 
a  man  who,  in  his  folly,  would  promote  the  purposes  which  he 
could  not  understand,  and  then  came  the  opportunity  for  wise 
men  to  break  with  him  and  with  their  country.  Out  over  the 
wide  sea,  answering  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  at  midnight,  came 
that  Argo,  that  ship  freighted  as  never  ship  was  freighted  before, 
bringing  the  beginning  of  the  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  the 
faith  of  Abraham,  the  courage  of  Moses,  the  piety  of  David; 
bringing  them  to  these  open  shores  that  had  been  waiting  for 
their  coming. 

I  trace  these  things  very  hastily  that  you  may  see  that  this 
church  is  no  new-born  thing,  not  a  church  that  comes  in  with 
these  later  centuries  ;  it  is  part  of  the  thought  of  Him  with 
whom  a  thousand  years  are  but  one  day.  All  these  principles 
are  but  two  or  three  days  old.  They  have  never  changed  since 
God  said  to  your  ancestor,  the  founder  of  this  church,  — since 
God  spake  to  him  directly,  and  said,  "  In  thy  seed  shall  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  This  church  is  of  the  seed  of 
Abraham  according  to  the  faith,  almost  according  to  the  flesh, 
carrying  forward  God's  unalterable  purposes  of  justice,  sover- 
eignty, truth,  and  grace  in  the  world. 

We  have  these  men  of  the  "  Mayflower,"  and  those  that  fol- 
lowed them  here  ;  and  what  are  they  to  do?  It  is  very  inter- 
esting to  mark  just  what  they  did.  There  were  three  things 
opened  before  them.  That  they  would  have  a  church  was  self- 
evident.  Some  had  formed  themselves  into  a  church  on  the 
other  side.  There  had  been  a  church  like  this  forty  years 
before  they  came  here.  Three  things  weie  open  before  those 
who  came  to  Plymouth,  to  Salem,  to  Boston,  to  Charlestown, 
to  Cambridge.     The  first  thing  possible  was,  perhaps,  the  most 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  2  2 


dangerous  "  thing.  It  was  to  simply  copy.  They  had  been 
always  accustomed  to  the  ways  of  the  old  church.  They 
had  not  thought  of  anything  else  until  God  shut  them  up  to 
the  necessity  of  having,  not  a  church  of  the  hierarchy,  but  a 
church  of  the  people.  Another  thing  was  open  to  them,  and 
it  was  extremely  perilous.  That  was,  to  invent  some  form 
of  church  government,  very  modern,  very  new,  and  with  all 
the  evidences  of  crudeness  and  newness  about  it.  We  ought 
to  be  grateful  that  they  did  not  organize  a  new  church.  There 
was  a  third  way  open.  What  was  it?  They  said,  "  Let  us 
see  how  churches  began."  In  Boston  and  Cambridge  and 
Salem  they  went  back  to  the  beginning,  as  their  fathers  had 
done  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea.  They  said,  "  How  did  men 
make  a  church  in  the  fiist  place?"  They  found  that  men 
gathered  themselves  together,  united  in  Christ  and  devoted  to 
his  service,  and  were  a  church.  They  found  that  one  hundred 
and  twenty  men  and  women  gathered  together  and  chose  an 
apostle  in  the  place  of  an  apostate.  They  said,  "That  is  the 
way  to  have  a  church."  The}'  went  back,  not  to  English 
history,  not  to  their  own  imagination  and  inventive  genius  ; 
they  went  back  to  the  original  sources,  and  said,  "  We  will 
begin  where  Christ  and  the  apostles  began."  They  founded 
what  Christ  founded,  —  a  church  of  the  people.  They  had 
struck  extremely  high  in  their  intent. 

Brethren,  I  suppose  that  was  the  noblest  attempt  at  church 
building  ever  made,  showing  the  largest  faith  and  greatest 
devotion.  Alone  on  these  shores,  they  held  the  highest  ideal 
of  a  church  which  ever  has  been  conceived,  the  divine  ideal  of 
a  church,  such  as  is  portrayed  in  the  Gospel  and  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  and  by  St.  John  in  the  Apocalypse  ;  that  is,  a  church 
where  all  the  people  are  priests.  That  is  the  church  of  the  ages. 
I  do  not  know  what  the  future  church  of  this  country  is  to  be, 
where  every  man  chooses  his  own  church  ;  but  I  suppose 
there  is  no  man  who  has  so  much  devotion  to  his  own  system 
of  church  life  that  he  does  not  say  that  the  final  church  will 
be  that  in  which  all  men  are  priests  under  the  one  Lord,  hold- 
ing the  one  faith,  bearing  the  one  baptism.  It  is  a  marvellous 
thing  that  these  men  on  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  struck  the 
highest  ideal,  which  England  had  not  been  able  to  realize. 


228  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

They  could  not  carry  their  ideas  out  so  far  as  they  wished. 
They  could  reach  out  into  the  colony  and  the  township  ;  but 
the  time  had  not  come  when  they  could  have  a  people's 
government.  But  the  time  came  when  they  could  have  that. 
You  remember  that  De  Tocqueville  said,  that  the  highest  form 
of  political  institutions  is  a  republic.  When  the  time  had  come 
that  a  republic  could  be  established,  it  was  established  in  the 
only  place  in  the  world  where  such  a  thing  was  possible. 
Neither  in  England,  Germany,  South  America,  or  Asia 
could  there  be  a  republic.  There  were  no  people  to  make  it  of; 
there  was  no  desire  to  make  it.  Here  was  a  great  continent 
just  open  ;  as  some  one  has  said,  picked  up  out  of  the  ocean  on 
the  point  of  a  needle.  These  men  came,  bearing  the  idea  of 
manhood,  the  ability  of  man  to  choose  his  rulers,  the  ability  of 
man  to  choose  his  minister.  Carrying  on  this  idea,  when  the 
time  came  for  it,  they  founded  a  republic.  I  will  not  go  so  far 
as  to  say,  as  a  great  many  have  said,  that  the  idea  of  the  republic 
came  from  the  Congregational  church.  Yet  it  is  not  at  all 
unlikely  that  people  accustomed  in  domestic  affairs  to  think  for 
themselves,  when  they  came  to  be  ready  in  political  affairs  to 
think  for  themselves,  should  have  thought  along  the  same  lines. 
However  that  may  be,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  this :  The 
republic  has  been  fostered  and  strengthened  by  our  Congrega- 
tional church.  This  has  given  presidents,  senators,  legislators, 
to  the  republic.  It  has  founded  schools  and  colleges.  It  has 
done  its  part,  in  its  measure,  towards  fulfilling  that  first  idea, 
the  uppermost  idea,  that  God  shall  rule  and  all  men  shall  be 
brethren. 

I  have  asked  your  attention  to  these  thoughts  that  you  may 
see  the  place  where  this  church  falls  into  the  stream  of  history. 
It  is  not  a  thought  of  two  hundred  and  twenty -five  years 
ago.  It  is  an  older  thought  and  a  much  broader  ministry  than 
the  limits  of  Newton  can  satisfy.  I  am  not  disposed  to  say 
that  all  that  has  been  done  in  this  country  has  been  done  by 
Congregational  churches.  We  have,  at  least,  done  our  part. 
But  sometimes  it  is  said  that  we  are  not  quite  true  to  our 
polity  ;  that  we  are  weary  of  it,  and  are  borrowing  from  other 
systems  of  government  and  worship  for  the  enrichment  of  our 
own.     It  is  possible  it  may  be  so,  but  I  am  not  aware  of  any- 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  229 

thing  that  has  been  borrowed.  They  tell  us  we  are  entering 
into  the  methods  of  the  ritualists.  Is  it  true?  I  think  not. 
If  we  choose  to  take  up  methods  which  we  have  laid  aside 
for  the  time  being,  which  we  laid  aside  a  few  hundred  years 
ago,  that  is  not  borrowing.  A  few  months  ago  you  laid  aside 
your  winter  overcoat.  Soon  you  will  take  it  out  and  wear 
it  again,  —  but  you  are  not  borrowing.  I  deny  that  we 
have  borrowed  anything  from  the  English  church.  It  is  as 
much  ours  as  it  is  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury's.  We  have 
as  much  right  to  it  within  the  walls  of  this  sanctuary  as  they 
had  in  Westminster  Abbey  or  Canterbury  Cathedral.  What- 
ever is  English  is  ours.  Whatever  belongs  to  the  English 
church  is  ours.  We  never  sold  it.  We  never  pawned  it.  We 
simply  laid  it  aside,  meaning,  if  we  wanted  it,  to  take  it  up 
again. 

On  the  other  side,  is  there  not  something?  Do  you  know 
how  many  Congregationalists  there  are  who  do  not  bear  the 
name  ?  I  suppose  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  Prot- 
estantism of  this  country  is  essentially  Congregationalism. 
That  is,  the  people  rule.  I  do  not  believe  that  Protestant 
American  citizens  will  long  or  widely  consent  to  be  governed 
by  anybody  but  themselves.  We  insist  so  much  on  personal 
liberty,  and  are  so  much  accustomed,  in  our  politics,  to  think 
for  ourselves  and  to  vote  for  such  men  and  measures  as  we 
prefer,  that  the  method  and  spirit  readily  extend  into  our 
church  life.  I  think  it  is  evident,  that  whatever  be  the  form  of 
church  government,  as  it  is  called,  the  people  are  more  and 
more  having  their  own  way.  That  is  Congregationalism.  In 
our  American  life,  it  is  to  the  manner  born.  Doubtless  we  are, 
in  our  turn,  influenced  by  our  neighbors.  But  I  want  to 
remind  you  of  the  extension  of  our  republican  principles  of 
church  life,  because  we  are  so  often  charged  with  borrowing, 
with  imitating.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  given  freely  of 
the  spirit  and  the  method,  of  the  heart  and  the  life,  of  those  men 
and  women  who  were  willing  to  expatriate  themselves  that 
they  might  be  free,  willing  to  forsake  the  land  which  had 
given  them  birth  that  they  might  find  and  found  a  country  of 
their  own.  Now,  I  can  very  well  understand  why  people 
prefer  different  forms  of  church   government.     I  understand 


230  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

perfectly  well  how  certain  elaborate  forms  of  worship  are  bet- 
ter for  some  persons  than  for  others  ;  how  one  may  find  a  de- 
ficiency of  spiritual  nourishment  in  our  simple  ways,  and  find 
fulness  of  nurture  in  the  stately  ceremonial  of  some  other 
church,  which  holds  the  same  faith  and  worships  the  same  Lord. 
May  they  all  prosper  till  they  shall  give  to  every  man,  who 
seeks  his  own  house  and  would  live  and  die  in  his  own  nest, 
that  which  he  needs.  But  for  you  and  me,  brethren,  there  is 
a  law  of  loyalty,  a  law  of  fidelity.  There  is  a  confidence  in 
the  past ;  and  it  seems  strange  that,  except  in  rare  instances, 
any  one  should  be  willing  to  part  from  the  historic  church,  — 
the  church  of  his  fathers,  the  church  of  the  Apostles,  the  church 
which  has  cost  the  toils  and  sacrifices  of  the  best  men  who,  up 
to  this  time,  have  trodden  the  earth.  I  cannot  understand  why 
any  one  should  be  willing  to  forsake  it  at  any  demand  of 
fashion  or  any  temptation  of  fancy. 

I  confess  myself  a  Puritan  of  the  Puritans.  If  I  ever  change, 
it  will  be  only  in  one  direction.  If  I  ever  change  my  religious 
faith  and  form,  I  shall  become  a  Qiiaker.  I  have  not  the  slight- 
est shade  of  admiration  for  candlesticks.  To  the  last  drop  of 
my  heart  I  believe  in  the  sunlight.  Puritans  and  Quakers  did 
not  always  agree  ;  but  they  were  at  one  in  that  they  believed 
in  the  light  of  God  shining  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  born 
of  God,  until  a  man  knows  the  will  of  God  and  worships  him 
in  spirit  and  truth,  because  God  himself  is  spirit  and  is  truth. 
It  does  seem  to  me  that  there  ought  to  be  this  confidence  in 
what  we  have  tried  and  proved.  It  ought  to  bind  us  more 
closely  together,  around  our  own  home  altars  and  the  old 
names,  and  make  us  true  to  the  church  of  the  centuries,  —  the 
almost  uncounted  centuries,  —  true  with  a  devotion  which  shall 
leave  nothing  lacking  in  our  gifts  and  nothing  wanting  in  our 
lives. 

Why  should  it  not  be  so.''  Why  may  it  not  be  so.''  I  am 
well  aware  that  there  are  differences  of  judgment  and  differ- 
ences of  taste  ;  but,  as  I  think  what  these  churches  have  ac- 
complished, as  I  think  of  our  simple  worship  in  its  ideal, 
perhaps  not  as  realized  anywhere  among  us,  I  am  convinced 
that  the  grandest  religious  society  built  upon  the  earth  is  one 
of  these  simple  churches  of  our  fathers.     I  wish  we  had  kept 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  27,1 

more  closely  to  their  pattern  of  churches.  I  do  not  think  all 
our  improvements  have  justified  themselves.  I  have  been 
under  the  roof  of  Saint  Sophia,  and  have  strained  my  eyes  to 
see  the  frescoes  there.  I  have  been  in  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem.  I  have  been  in  Saint  Peter's  and  re- 
ceived the  benediction  of  the  Pope  ;  I  have  w^orshipped  in  the 
golden  light  of  Milan  and  beneath  the  stupendous  arches  of 
Cologne  ;  I  have  prayed  among  the  monuments  and  altars  of 
Westminster,  and  have  heai'kened  to  the  whispers  of  Saint 
Paul's.  It  may  be  to  my  discredit,  it  may  discredit  me  as  a 
man  of  taste  and  judgment ;  but  I  never  yet  have  found  so  true 
a  place  of  worship,  in  itself  and  its  service  and  spirit,  as  where 
devout  men  have  assembled,  and  devout  women,  doing  their 
own  thinking,  doing  their  own  worshipping,  praying  with 
their  own  lips  and  in  their  own  words,  singing  with  their  own 
voices.  It  might  be  under  a  roof  like  this,  or  under  a  roof 
which  covers  walls  of  logs  where,  through  the  chinks,  the 
eternal  glory  comes  streaming  in,  where  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
reveals  himself  above  the  mercy  seat.  Far  be  it  from  me  to 
criticise  the  devout  preferences  of  others,  or  to  impose  my  taste 
and  habit,  or  training,  upon  wiser  and  better  men.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  that  which  meets  the  needs  of  men,  helps  the 
heart,  assists  worship  without  detaining  it  and  promotes  de- 
votion without  ensnaring  it,  is  most  true  and  fitting. 

So  I  come  back  to  say  what  I  said  just  now.  I  am  a  Puri- 
tan until  I  am  a  Quaker.  I  believe  in  the  old  American 
churches,  the  Apostolic  churches,  the  old  way.  We  can  throw 
more  heart  into  them,  brethren.  They  need  little  more. 
Simple  worship,  and  simply  living  and  living  simply  in  the 
faith  of  God  and  the  beauty  of  holiness,  are  all  we  want.  We 
can  adorn  and  enrich  our  service  in  its  own  spirit.  We  have 
nothing  to  borrow,  we  have  nothing  to  covet ;  but  in  loyalty  to 
conscience  and  truth  we  have  only  to  keep  faith  with  those 
whose  memories  we  cherish,  walking  in  the  light. 

Well,  to  come  from  all  this  down  to  the  consideration  of  this 
church  ;  are  we  not  finding  these  things  impressed  upon  us 
here.''  It  seems  to  me  that  thei^e  has  been  a  wonderful  thing 
done  here.  What  has  it  meant  for  these  nine  clergymen 
to  live    in   this  community?     The  old  church  at  Cambridge, 


232  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

twenty-eight  years  older,  has  had  eleven  ministers.  This 
church  has  had  five  meeting-houses,  the  Cambridge  church  has 
had  six  meeting-houses.  What  has  it  meant  to  have  these  men 
here?  The  mightiest  thing  you  can  put  into  a  community  is  a 
man,  —  a  devoted,  consecrated  man.  I  remember  it  was  said  of 
a  very  good  minister,  that  it  was  worth  his  whole  salary  to  have 
him  live  in  the  town.  I  remember  that  my  father  came  home 
one  day  and  told  us  that  one  had  said  he  would  rather  see  Mr. 
Peabody  walk  than  to  hear  anybody  else  preach.  These  nine 
men  in  this  church,  sustained  by  this  church  —  I  cannot  name 
them  or  describe  them.  Let  them  stay  in  the  shadow  where 
only  imagination  can  see  the  details  of  their  lives.  I  will  not 
attempt  to  present  again  these  pastors  that  are  gone.  But  I 
want  to  speak  of  my  brother  beloved,  now  the  minister  of  this 
people,  giving  the  strength  of  his  life  to  this  people  in  his 
simple  Apostolic  faith,  in  his  simple  Apostolic  service.  I  am 
not  able  to  say  these  desultory  things  and  to  omit  my  word  of 
testimony  to  him,  my  friend,  who  for  forty  years  has  been  a 
living  benediction  along  these  streets.  I,  too,  have  known  the 
purity  of  his  character,  the  wisdom  of  his  counsel,  the  sweet- 
ness of  his  voice,  the  power  of  his  truth,  as,  not  with  words  of 
man's  wisdom,  but  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit,  he  has  stood 
here  in  the  simple,  sturdy  faith  of  a  prophet  and  apostle. 

I  think  of  him  ;  and  I  think  of  her  whose  memory  I  dare 
not  touch  with  these  clumsy  words  of  mine,  that  incomparable 
woman,  who  purchased,  at  the  cost  of  all  she  had,  the  spike- 
nard of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  pressed  it  into  the 
choicest  alabaster  box  which  earth  could  yield,  dissolving  her 
love  in  the  precious  ointment  of  her  devotion,  and  shattering 
the  box  that  she  might  pour  out  the  ointment,  making  the 
house  full  of  perfume  for  every  one  whose  feet  crossed  its 
sacred  threshold. 

I  do  not  know  all  that  this  church  has  done  in  these  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  years  ;  but  it  has  done  enough,  if  that 
were  all,  in  keeping  that  man  and  this  woman  living  in  the 
power  of  an  endless  life  in  these  homes  and  hearts.  Then  we 
come  to  the  rest,  to  the  word  which  has  been  preached  here, 
to  the  word  of  which  this  church  and  other  churches  are  the 
guardians  and  ministers.     For  where  shall  we  find  the  highest 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  233 

divine  wisdom?  There  is  no  other  institution  appointed  to 
teach  the  things  men  need  most  and  longest  to  learn,  except  this 
church  and  other  churches.  It  is  here  that  we  go  up  to  the 
mount  which  burns  with  fire,  and  listen  to  the  voice  of  Jehovah. 
It  is  here  that  we  go  up  the  steps  into  his  own  guest-chamber 
and  keep  the  Passover  with  the  Lord  of  Glory.  It  is  here  that 
we  go  with  him  to  the  cross,  the  sepulchre,  and  the  mount  of 
ascension.  They  show  you  at  the  top  of  the  Mount  of  Olives 
a  stone  bearing  the  impression  of  a  foot,  and  they  tell  you  that 
is  where  Jesus  stood,  and  that  the  j^rint  was  made  by  his  foot 
when  he  was  about  to  leave  the  earth  and  ascend  into  the 
heavens.  It  is  a  fable  ;  but  the  print  of  the  feet  of  Christ,  which 
have  stood  upon  the  earth  and  ascended  into  heaven,  is  here 
upon  these  streets,  in  this  sanctuary,  in  these  homes  and  these 
lives,  and  will  be  seen  through  the  years  which  are  to  be. 

Duty  has  been  enforced,  not  by  any  poor  maxims  or  any 
common  sanctions  ;  it  has  been  traced  back  to  the  only  place 
where  it  can  ever  rest,  upon  the  authority  of  Him  who  speaks 
to  us  by  right,  because  He  is  divine.  There  is  no  other  place 
where  duty  comes  with  these  sanctions,  reaches  us  with  this 
truth,  and  deeply  touches  all  our  lives,  except  the  church, 
which  is  the  home  of  Christ.  Christ  has  revealed  himself  in 
this  church.  For  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  he  has 
walked  with  this  people  in  their  unbroken  generations.  Men 
have  found  Christ  here.  He  has  stretched  out  his  hands  here, 
and  healing  has  dropped  from  them.  Men  have  touched  his 
robes  here  and  carried  away  mercy. 

You  mourn  that  the  records  were  lost.  There  never  were 
complete  records.  Not  time,  not  eternity,  not  the  bounds  of  our 
thought  can  compass  these  results.  The  truth  of  God,  the 
ministry  of  charity,  the  proclamation  of  duty,  in  these  the  life  of 
the  church  has  been  expressed.  There  was  not  a  man  or  woman 
who  could  not  have  lived  a  separate  life  ;  not  one  of  the  eighty 
members  of  this  church  at  its  beginning  who  could  not  have 
lived  a  separate  life.  But  there  was  not  one  of  the  eighty  who 
did  not  double  everything  in  him  of  good  by  coming  to  this 
fellowship.  It  is  in  this  bringing  together  of  our  resources 
that  our  strength  is  enlarged,  and  sent  directly,  prudently,  dis- 
creetly, efficiently,  to  its  end.     How  wise  they  were  !     What 


234  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

would  these  men  have  been  alone?     Who  would  have  known 
them?     Would  they  have   known  themselves?     It  was  when 
they  came  into  the  body  of  Christ  as  members  of  it  that  they 
shared  its  destiny,  and  became  heirs  with  him  of  the  glory  and 
the  wealth  of  God.     It  is  something  to  praise  the  virtues  of  the 
fathers;    it  is  more  to  copy  them.      By   all  that  we  admire  in 
them  must  we  endeavor  to  make  our  lives  worthy  of  that  which 
we  have  received  from  them.     It  is  a  great  thing  that  three  hun- 
dred men  and  women  are  here,  every  one  of  them  sworn  to 
loyalty  to  Christ ;   three  hundred  men  and  women  here,  every 
one  commissioned  a  priest,  apostle,  and  preacher  in  this  com- 
munity ;    three  hundred    men  and    women  with  these   oppor- 
tunities to  employ  and  develop  their  lives.     Should  it  not  be  the 
outcome  of  a  service  like  this,  that  we  gather  with  a  new  conse- 
cration around  the  common  faith  and   the  common  altar,  as  we 
join  voices  and  songs,  and  join  our  hearts  in  service  and  love? 
It  is  only  as  we  come  to  fulfil  this,  in  some  measure,  that  we 
are  equal  to  our  place.      I   said  they  struck  very  high  when 
they  struck  out  the  idea  of  a  church  of  the  people.     It  is  the 
highest  and  most  difficult  form  of  Christian  life.     I  look  into 
your  faces  and  I  ask.  Are  you  able  to  be  members  of  a  Congre- 
gational church,  and  sustain  and  glorify  it  with  your  presence? 
Men  talk  about  the  dangers  to  the  faith.     I  have  less  trouble 
about  the  faith   than  about  the   men  who  hold  it  in  trust.     I 
do  not   believe  that  in  the    history  of  Congregationalism  the 
gospel    was  ever    more   purely   held,    or    simply    and    purely 
preached,  than  it  is  to-day.     It  never  had  a  greater  hold  on  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  the  people  than  it  has  to-day.     But  whether 
we    shall  loyally  gather  around  it  to  send  it  through  the  land ; 
whether  our  missionaries  shall  have  all  they  need,  our  Sunday- 
schools  all  they  want ;  whether  we  shall  come  nobly  to  the 
next  great  contest,  which  is  with  self,  or  the  next  great  victory, 
which  is  over  self,  —  that  is  the  question.     Down  in  our  hearts 
are  the  elemental  truths  ;  to  them  we  will  be  true.     But  let  us 
teach  them,  become  apostles  of  them.     That  is  the  necessity  of 
the  hour.     Jacob  went  to  Haran,  and  the  heavens  opened,  and 
he  saw  a  ladder   on  which  the  angels  of  God  ascended  and 
descended.     He  passed  on,  and  came  to  a  place  where  there 
was  a  well  in  the  field  and   flocks  of  sheep  lying  by  it.     He 


COMMEMORATIVE     SERVICES.  235 

said  to  the  shepherds,  "  Roll  away  the  stone  from  the  mouth 
of  the  well  and  water  your  flocks,  that  they  may  go  their  way." 
The  shepherds  answered,  "  No,  we  cannot  roll  away  the  stone  ; 
when  all  the  flocks  are  gathered  together  then  will  we  roll  the 
stone  away,  and  then  will  we  water  the  flocks."  It  is  a  parable 
for  the  church.  Here  are  three  hundred  men  and  women 
with  three  hundred  different  flocks.  There  is  a  stone  over  the 
mouth  of  the  well,  and  it  never  will  be  completely  rolled  away  ; 
and  this  whole  Newton  never  will  have  water,  as  it  ought  to 
have,  in  its  business,  its  homes,  its  lives,  so  long  as  any  one  of 
the  three  hundred  loiters  by  the  way.  Only  when  the  flocks 
are  all  assembled  shall  the  stone  be  completely  rolled  away, 
and  the  water  of  life  be  provided  for  the  abundant  refreshing 
of  this  people. 

Brethren,  here  I  leave  you.  It  is  God's  thought  that  we  are 
thinking,  God's  great  intent  reaching  into  his  eternal  counsels 
of  the  past,  and  teaching  us  all  to  go  on  side  by  side,  step  to 
step,  and  heart  to  heart,  marching  steadily  forward  to  that  new 
day  which  shall  be  builded  out  of  heaven  to  God. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Dr.  McKenzie's  address  the  con- 
gregation arose  and  sang,  to  the  tune  of  "  Coronation," 
the  hymn,  "  All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name." 

BENEDICTION    BY    REV.    DR.    FURBER. 

Dr.  Furber.  —  I  will  pronounce  the  same  benediction  that 
I  pronounced  when  I  was  ordained. 

The  Lord  bless  you  and  keep  you  ;  the  Lord  make  his  face 
to  shine  upon  you  and  be  gracious  unto  you  ;  the  Lord  lift  up 
his  countenance  upon  you  and  give  you  peace.     The  grace  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all.     Amen. 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX. 


MRS.  MARIA   BRIGHAM   FURBER. 

[Wt'fe  of  Rev.  D.  L.  Fiirber,  D.D.'\ 

[In  the  opinion  of  the  committee  of  publication,  the  history  of 
our  church  should  contain  some  appropriate  notice  of  Mrs.  Furber. 
Accordingly,  the  following  extract  is  introduced  from  a  sermon  by 
Rev.  T.J.  Holmes,  preached  Nov.  i6,  1884,  from  the  text,  "Here  am 
I,  send  me."] 

ONE  thing  about  Mrs.  Furber  impresses  me  the  more  I 
think  of  it ;  namely,  that  the  quality  which  was  more 
than  any  other  the  secret  of  her  remarkable  character,  was  one 
which  any  woman  may  possess.  There  is  apt  to  be  quite  a 
different  impression.  The  side  of  her  chiefly  emphasized  is  her 
greatness,  the  generous  scale  on  which  she  was  built  in  body 
and  mind,  her  majestic  bearing,  her  "  queenliness,"  her  grasp 
of  thought,  her  wide  attainments.  But  to  many  another  woman 
this  is  discouraging.  She  says,  "  I  am  not  queen-like,  T  never 
could  be  ;  I  have  no  great  gifts.  What  is  such  a  life  worth  to 
me  as  a  pattern  ?  " 

Now,  I  like  to  think  that  Mrs.  Furber's  real  greatness  lay  at  a 
point  where  all  may  imitate  her,  —  lay  in  her  benevolent  spirit. 
The  one  thing  she  seemed  to  think  of  most  constantly  was. 
What  can  I  be  doing  to  help  others.?  She  had  a  genius  for 
finding  out  who  was  sick  or  in  trouble,  or  who  was  in  danger 
of  being  neglected,  and  then  a  genius  for  finding  how  to  offer 
sympathy  and  aid.  It  was  not  either  the  giving  of  money 
merely,  —  often  it  was  not  that  at  all.  Some  of  you  to  whom 
she  was  of  assistance  never  needed  from  her  any  help  of  that 
kind  ;  but  3'ou  wanted  counsel  or  sympathy,  so  you  went  to 


240  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

her  as  to  a  mother ;  and  you  will  always  miss  her  as  though 
something  had  gone  out  of  your  lives.  Oh,  no  ;  it  was  not 
money,  it  was  not  intellectual  power  or  learning,  it  was  not 
position  ;  it  was  the  living  fountain  of  her  sympathy  with 
all  who  were  in  trouble,  the  help  she  gave  them,  the  passion 
for  doing  good  in  every  possible  way,  that  made  her  so  great. 
And  in  this  we  may  all  copy  her. 

Her  large  resources,  natural  and  acquired,  doubtless 
widened  vastly  the  sphei'e  of  her  usefulness.  She  believed  in 
the  higher  education  for  women,  of  which,  indeed,  she  was 
herself  a  conspicuous  example ;  but  she  asked.  Why  does 
education  need  to  be  higher  for  women,  except  that  they  may 
do  better  service?  That  was  her  motto,  the  inscription  in  the 
chapel  at  Wellesley,  "Not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister."  She  said  to  herself,  as  distinctly  as  Isaiah  ever  did, 
"  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  saying,  '  Whom  shall  I  send, 
and  who  will  go  for  us?'  Then  said  I,  'Here  am  I,  send 
me.'"  What  is  a  missionary?  It  is  one  who  is  sent.  Then 
she  was  a  missionary  ;  she  was  that,  all  through  and  through. 
She  seemed  to  be  asking,  above  anything  else,  How  can  I 
count  most  for  the  good  of  others?  My  mind,  my  learning, 
my  accomplishments,  my  executive  capacity,  my  social  in- 
fluence, my  money,  my  home,  my  position  as  a  pastor's  wife, 
my  strength  as  a  woman,  how  can  all  these  help  me  to  be 
useful  ?  And  these  various  forces,  consecrated  to  such  a 
purpose,  served  to  give  her  benevolence  its  special  character. 
For  one  thing,  it  was  very  catholic.  If  any  one  was  in  trouble, 
she  never  stopped  to  ask  who  it  was  ;  Protestant  or  Romanist, 
Gentile  or  Jew,  white  or  black,  rich  or  poor,  it  made  no 
dift'erence  to  her,  except,  indeed,  she  did  have  a  way  of  leaning 
toward  the  poor,  and  the  Jew,  and  the  Romanist,  and  the 
black  ;  she  thought  nobody  else  was  likely  to  be  their  friend. 
She  could  see  a  case  of  want  away  off  in  Georgia,  or  in  the 
Indian  Territory  ;  then,  what  requires  sometimes  a  sharper 
vision,  she  could  see  one  here  in  Newton  Centre.  Any  one 
was  her  neighbor  for  whom  Jesus  died,  and  that  was 
everybody. 

Her  benevolence  was  very  methodical.  She  seemed  able  to 
comprehend    all    the    lines    of    Christian    effort    in     different 


APPENDIX.  241 

directions,  and  to  see  just  where  help  would  tell  to  the  best 
effect.  It  was  something  like  the  faculty  of  a  general  whose 
eye  covers  the  entire  field  of  operations;  who  is  able  with  his 
map  to  see  through  that  piece  of  woods,  through  the  hill 
yonder,  to  see  everywhere,  and  to  discover  the  points  where 
there  needs  to  be  quick  and  strong  reenforcement.  It  is 
marvellous  to  us  who  never  knew  Mrs.  Furber  personally,  to 
hear  in  how  many  ways  she  could  be  spending  herself  all  at 
once.  Then,  her  benevolence  was  marked  by  a  peculiar 
energy  in  the  working  out  of  details. 

We  say  one  advantage  of  close  study  is  to  acquire  the 
capacity  for  application.  Any  one  who  has  learned  how  to 
give  a  solid  hour,  without  the  least  distraction,  to  a  lesson  in 
algebra  or  Latin,  knows  how  to  give  a  solid  hour  to  any 
pursuit  that  seems  worth  while;  —  and  that  is  an  immense 
attainment. 

Mrs.  Furber  put  this  faculty  into  her  good  works.  If  a  case 
of  need  came  to  her,  she  took  that  particularly  in  hand.  The 
whole  world  was  lying  in  wickedness  and  want.  Yes,  she 
understood  about  that,  but  here  was  a  particular  part  of  the 
world  that  just  now  needed  to  be  cared  for.  So  she  devoted 
herself  to  that,  as  she  would  to  a  problem  in  mathematics  or 
in  philosophy  ;  that  became,  for  the  while,  her  mathematics, 
her  philosophy,  and  she  knew  how  to  keep  on  in  her  study  till 
the  problem  was  solved.  She  had,  too,  so  many  of  these 
special  cases  on  hand,  —  more,  I  think,  than  any  living  soul 
was  aware  of.  She  had  learned  by  heart  that  verse  about  the 
rio-ht  hand  and  the  left.  She  w^as  not  careful  to  have  her 
doings  published  in  denominational  statistics,  or  anywhere  else. 
She  had  not  time  to  be  putting  things  in  the  papers;  she  was 
too  busy,  and  certainly  she  had  no  inclination.  So  there  come 
to  light,  even  now,  every  little  while,  fresh  instances  of  her 
kindly  acts.  Here  is  one  that  her  husband  never  heard  of  till 
I  told  him,  years  after  its  occurrence.  A  lady  said  to  me, 
"  When  I  lived  at  the  West,  the  church  in  my  home  supported 
an  aged  minister,  one  of  our  members,  and  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  handing  him,  at  stated  times,  his  allowance.  When  I  came 
to  Newton  Centre,  I  was  surprised  to  learn  that  for  some 
reason  he  was  not  receiving  the  amount  promised  him,  and 


242  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

was,  therefore,  in  considerable  distress.  What  was  to  be  done 
was  a  question.  I  had  no  means  myself,  and  knew  of  no  one 
here  to  whom  to  apply  for  assistance  ;  but  I  had  heard  of  Mrs. 
Furber  as  a  friend  to  everybody,  and  in  the  emergency  I  went 
to  her.  I  went  with  great  reluctance,  being  a  stranger  to  her ; 
but,  to  my  amazement,  she  took  my  case  right  to  her  heart  in  a 
moment.  She  never  seemed  to  think  whether  that  minister 
was  a  member  of  the  church  here  or  of  any  other.  All  she 
knew  was  that  he  was  a  poor,  broken-down  old  man,  and  she 
said,  '  Why,  of  course,  he  must  have  help,  —  all  he  needs. 
We  must  take  good  care  of  him  till  the  Father  calls  him  home. 
Our  ladies  have  various  matters  on  hand  just  now  :  there  is  a 
box  going  West ;  that  barrel  is  for  the  South.  Next  week  we 
have  a  meeting  for  —  Oh,  well,  never  mind,  we  will  take  care 
of  3'our  friend.  I  do  not  quite  see  how,  this  minute,  but  I  will 
think  of  it;  meanwhile,  there  is  a  little  to  send  him,  right 
away  ; '  and  she  handed  me  a  generous  gift  from  her  own  purse. 
Before  breakfast,  the  next  morning,  I  received  a  note  from  her, 
saying,  '  During  the  night  I  have  thought  of  a  way  to  help  the 
old  minister.  Come  and  see  me.'  And  my  friend  was  pro- 
vided for." 

Here  is  another  case  :  After  Mrs.  Furber's  death,  her  hus- 
band, finding  among  her  papers  the  name  of  a  woman  in 
Boston  unknown  to  him,  wrote  to  her,  asking,  "Please  to  tell 
me  what  your  relation  was  to  my  wife."  To  which  the  woman, 
who  was  a  member  of  an  Episcopalian  church,  replied, 
"  Your  wife  has  been  helping  me,  in  my  povert}^,  for  the  past 
fifteen  years."  You  who  were  with  Mrs.  Furber  in  this 
church  never  heard  of  either  of  these  cases.  No  ;  and  1  have 
no  doubt  there  are  ever  so  many  others  of  her  good  works  that 
you  never  heard  of,  and  you  never  will  hear  of  them,  probably, 
till  you  get  to  heaven.  If  she  had  lived  in  the  New  Testament 
day,  her  name,  surely,  would  have  been  recorded  with  those  of 
Phebe  and  Priscilla,  and  Mary  and  Persis,  and  all  the  rest. 
She  would  have  had  a  place  in  the  Apostle's  mind  among  the 
saints  to  whom  he  sent  his  greeting,  "  Those  women  who 
labored  with  me  in  the  gospel,  — whose  names  are  in  the  Book 
of  Life." 


APPENDIX.  243 

The  monument  over  the  place  of  Mrs.  Furber's  burial  bears 
the  following  inscription,  written  by  her  friend,  Professor 
Park,  of  Andover  :  — 

WITH  THE  TASTES  OF  A  SCHOLAR,  SHE  BLENDED  THE 
GRACES  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  AND  THE  ZEAL  OF  A  MISSIONARY. 
THE  WISE  WERE  INSTRUCTED  BY  HER  WORDS,  THE  POOR  WERE 
RELIEVED  BY  HER  DEEDS.  HER  STRENGTH  WAS  CONSECRATED 
TO  THE  SUPPORT  OF  THE  WEAK,  HER  DIGNITY  TO  THE  SERVICE 
OF  THE  OPPRESSED.  SHE  LIVED  AND  DIED  IN  THE  LORD, 
AND  HER  WORKS   DO  FOLLOW  HER. 


LETTE  RS. 


Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts, 

Executive  Department, 
Boston,  Sept.  30,  18S9. 

My  Dear  Judge  Bishop  :  —  lam  in  receipt  of  the  formal 
invitation  to  attend  the  celebration  of  the  two  hundred  and 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  formation  of  the  First  Church 
in  Newton,  on  Sunday  and  Monday  of  next  week. 
i  Nothing  would  please  me  better  than  to  accept  the  same, 
but  the  condition  of  my  health  continues  to  be  such  that  I  do 
not  think  it  prudent  to  run  the  risks  w^hich  attendance  would 
involve. 

In  such  an  event  I  take  deep  interest.     May  your  church 
and  society,  for  centuries  to  come,  continue  to  do  the  good  work 
in  which  they  have  so  successfully  engaged. 
I  am,  yours  sincerely, 

OLIVER  AMES. 

Hon.  Robert  R.  Bishop,  Newton,  Mass. 


244  'T^^     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 


MONTROSE-ON-HUDSON,    N.Y., 

Sept.   12,  1889. 

Dear  Dr.  Furber  :  — I  thank  you  for  your  kind  invitation 
to  attend  the  two  hundred  and  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  the  church  at  Newton,  and  should  be  verj'  ghid  to 
accept  it  if  my  engagements  would  permit.  But  it  will  be 
impossible  on  account  of  my  seminary  duties. 

Although  I  never  knew  Newton  or  its  church  from  personal 
knowledge,  yet  I  have  always  felt  a  deep  obligation  to  influ- 
ences upon  me  in  early  childhood,  that  had  their  root  in  that 
religious  circle.  My  maternal  grandfather  and  my  mother  were 
persons  of  more  than  usual  religious  earnestness,  and  I  have 
always  supposed  that  this  was  due,  in  no  small  degree,  to  the 
teachings  of  Dr.  Homer  and  Mr.  Greenough.  My  father, 
also,  came  under  the  same  influence,  and  was  greatly  aided  by 
those  excellent  ministers  in  his  way  to  the  Christian  ministry. 
If  I  have  done  any  good  in  the  world,  next  to  the  work  of  the 
Hol}^  Spirit  in  the  heart,  it  is  due  to  the  lessons,  prayers,  and 
example  of  godly  parents  and  ancestors.  You  may,  therefore, 
suppose  that  I  take  a  deep  interest  in  the  church  at  Newton, 
and  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  I  pray  that  it  may  continue, 
as  in  former  years,  to  teach  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  to  parents  and  their  children. 

Yours  fraternally, 

W.  G.  T.  SHEDD. 

Rev.  D.  L.  Furber,  D.D. 


48  West  36TH  St.,  New  York,  N.Y., 

Sept.  24,  1889. 

Mr.  Robert  R.  Bishop,  Chairman,  etc. :  — 

Dear  Slr^  —  The  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  foundation  of  the  First 
Church  in  Newton,  Mass.,  was  duly  received,  also  your  very 
kind  invitation,  in  which  Mrs.  Bishop  joined,  to  sojourn, 
while  in  Newton,  under  your  hospitable  roof. 


APPENDIX. 


H5 


Ancestral  associations  alone  would  be  a  strong  inducement 
to  see  Newton  again,  having  had  the  pleasure  of  spending  a 
few  hours  there  some  years  since.  Your  personal  kindness, 
and  that  of  the  church  which  you  repi^esent,  almost  irresistibly 
increases  this  desire.  But  at  present  I  do  not  see  my  way 
clear  to  accept  your  invitation.  My  health,  somewhat  im- 
paired, demands  quiet.  A  son,  now  on  his  way  from  Europe, 
will  make  my  presence  at  home  for  some  time  almost  a  neces- 
sity. Please  accept  for  yourself,  for  Mrs.  Bishop,  and  for  your 
associates  of  the  committee,  my  most  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments. Being  a  stranger  to  them  all,  I  cannot  too  highly 
appreciate  their  kindness. 

I  hope  you  will  not  consider  a  remark  or  two,  in  this  con- 
nection, out  of  place. 

It  would  be  scarcely  expected  that  the  first  pastor  of  the 
Newton  church,  John  Eliot,  Jr.,  should  not  have  descendants 
bearing  his  surname.  A  great-grandson,  John,  born  in  1745? 
was  the  last  of  that  branch  of  the  family.  When,  where,  and 
how  he  died,  and  where  he  was  buried,  cannot  be  ascertained. 

I  have  a  small  painting  upon  wood,  upon  the  back  of  which 
is  this  inscription  :  "  The  Oak  under  which  the  Apostle  Eliot 
preached  to  the  Indians  near  Boston,  by  G.  Harvey.''  Upon 
another  place  is  written,  "  Nonantum  Hill."  Under  the  oak  is 
a  school-house  and  a  group  of  boys.  I  have  been  told  by  one 
who  spent  his  boyhood  in  that  vicinity  that  the  sketch  is  ex- 
ceedingly accurate. 

Mr.  John  Rogers,  sculptor.  No.  14  West  12th  Street,  New 
York,  whose  groups  are  familiar  works  of  art  throughout  our 
land,  has  modelled  in  heroic  size  a  statue  of  John  Eliot.  It  is 
highly  praised.  An  intelligent  citizen  of  Roxbury,  Mass., 
who  is  very  desirous  of  having  a  statue  of  Eliot  in  that  place, 
after  a  prolonged  examination,  pronounced  it  superior  in  design 
and  expression  to  any  work  of  the  kind  with  which  Boston  is 
adorned.  Mr.  Rogers  hopes  that  the  authorities  of  Massachu- 
setts, or  of  Boston  and  its  vicinity,  or  that  some  generous 
admirer  of  Eliot,  having  the  pecuniary  ability,  will  provide 
for  its  completion  in  bronze,  and  for  its  erection.  Mr.  Rogers, 
I  am  sure,  would  welcome  to  his  studio  any  persons  interested 
in  the  life  and  woi'k  of  the    "  Indian   Apostle,"    and    would 


246  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

thank  them  for  friendly  woi"ds,  whether  of  severe  criticism  or 
of  praise. 

Please   excuse    these  rambling  digressions,  and  believe  me 
yours, 

Veiy  respectfully  and  thankfully, 

ELLSWORTH   ELIOT. 


48  West  36TH  St.,  New  York,  N.Y., 

October  2d,  1889. 

Mr.  Herbert  L  Ordway  :  — 

Dear  Sir^  —  Your  note  w^as  received  this  morning.  I  shall 
send  to-day,  by  Adams'  Express,  a  petition  in  the  handwriting 
of  John  Eliot  ("  Apostle  "),  signed  with  his  name  and  with 
the  names  of  many  others,  some  of  which  I  believe  it  is  im- 
possible to  decipher.  Upon  the  back  of  the  petition  are  a  few 
lines  of  writing  by  Gov.  Winthrop,  signed  with  his  name. 
None  but  an  expert  can  read  the  governor's  scrawl,  for  such  it 
appears. 

I  have  hesitated  about  sending  the  painting  of  the  "  Eliot 
Oak  "  at  Nonantum  Hill,  concerning  which  I  wrote  to  Judge 
Bishop,  and  have  decided  that  you  will  not  think  it  worth  the 
trouble  and  expense.  Its  dimensions  are  about  26  by  33  inches. 
Should  you  be  of  a  different  opinion,  write  for  it,  or,  if  the  time 
be  too  limited,  telegraph  "  Please  send,"  and  I  will  at  once 
have  it  securely  packed  and  sent. 

I  hope  your  celebration  will  be  most  successful.  Oppor- 
.tunities  for  recalling  the  early  days  of  our  history  and  the 
struggles  of  our  ancestors  should  never  be  allowed  to  pass 
unobserved.  It  is  wonderful  how  little  the  people  of  to-day 
know  of  them. 

Yours  very  truly, 

ELLSWORTH   ELIOT. 


A  number  of  other   letters  of   interest  and  value  were  received,  but  un- 
fortunately  were   not   preserved. 


LIST    OF     MEMORIALS. 


Silhouette  of  Dr.  Jonathan   Homer.  —  Loaned  by  the 

Misses  Jackson,  Newton. 
Daguerreotype  of   Rev.  James   Bates,   1846.  —  Loaned 

by  Rev.    James  A.  Bates,  Williston,  Vt. 
Photograph    of    Rev.    James     Bates,      1864.  —  Loaned 

by  Rev.  James  A.  Bates,  Williston,  Vt. 
Portrait   of  Rev.  William    Bushnell.       Loaned  by  his 

son,  Henry  K.  Bushnell,  Boston. 
Portrait  of  Rev.  Dr.  Daniel  L.  Furber.  —  Loaned  by 

Dr.  Furber;  painted  in  1848. 
Portrait  of  Henry  Gibbs,  Esq_.,  of  Newton,  1694-1761.  — 
Loaned  by  Mrs.  William  P.  Gibbs,  Cambridge. 
The  old  Rice  House  on  Centre  Street  was  built  by  him  in 
1742,  and  he  lived  there  until  his  death. 
Photograph    of     Rev.    Ephraim    Ward,     1741-1818.  — 
Loaned  by  Mrs.  Julius  A.  Rising,  Newton  Centre. 
Pastor  at  Brookfield,  Mass.,  forty-seven  years. 
Photograph  of  Mrs.  Mary  Ward,  Wife  of  Rev.  Ephraim 
Ward.     Daughter  of    Benjamin    Colman,    of  Boston.  — 
Loaned  by  Mrs.  Julius  A.  Rising,  Newton  Centre. 
Portrait  upon  Silk  of  Mr.  Ephraim  Ward,  1771-1797. 

—  Loaned  by  Miss  Annie  C.  Ward,  Newton  Centre. 
Portrait  of  Mrs.  Anna   Hammond   Pope,    1754-1859. — 
Loaned  by  Mrs.  William  Upham,  Spencer,  Mass.  ;  painted 
at  the  age  of  90. 
Portrait   of   Dea.    William  Jackson.  —  Loaned   by   the 

Misses  Jackson,  Newton  ;  painted  in  1833. 
Portrait  of  Mrs.  Hannah  Woodward  Jackson,  Wife 
of  Dea.  William  Jackson.  —  Loaned  by  Mrs.  Henry 
Fuller,  Newton  ;  painted  in  181 1. 
Photograph  of  Dea.  Elijah  F.  Woodward,  i  786-1846. 
First  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school,  and  for  many 
years  leader  of  the  choir.  —  Loaned  by  Woodward  family, 
Newton  Higrhlands. 


248  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Photograph  of  Wife  of   Dea.    Elijah   F.    Woodward, 

1 790-1871.  —  Loaned    by    Woodward   family,    Newton 

Highlands. 
Photograph    of    Dea.    Eben   Woodward,    1811-1879.  — 

Loaned  by  Woodward  family,  Newton  Highlands. 
Portrait  of  Capt.  Samuel  Hyde,    1774-1856. —  Loaned 

by  Mr.  George  Hyde,  Newton. 
Portrait  of  Wife  of  Capt.  Samuel    Hyde,    i 778-1858. 

—  Loaned  by  Mr.  George  Hyde,  Newton. 
Photograph  of  Dea.  Luther  Paul,  1793-1863.  —  Loaned 

by  Miss  Harriet  Paul,  Newton  Centre. 
Photograph  of  Wife  of  Dea.  Luther  Paul,  1799-1861. 

—  Loaned  by  Miss  Harriet  Paul,  Newton  Centre. 
Photograph  of  Dea.  Asa  Cook.  —  Loaned  by  Mrs.  George 

F.  Stone,  Chestnut  Hill. 
Photograph  of  Rev.    Increase    S.    Davis.  —  Loaned   by 

Mrs.  George  F.   Stone,  Chestnut  Hill. 
Photograph  of  Mr.  Jonathan  Stone. — Loaned  by  Mr. 

Daniel  Stone,  Chestnut  Hill. 
Photograph  of  Mr.    Charles    Brackett,    i 799-1879.  — 

Loaned  by  Miss  Maria  L.  Brackett,  Newton  Centre. 
Photograph   of    Wife   of  Mr.    Charles    Brackett.  — 

Loaned  by  Miss  Maria  L.  Brackett,  Newton  Centre. 
Portrait  of  Mrs.  Mary  Preston,  Granddaughter  of  Rev. 

Jonas  Meriam.  —  Loaned  by  Mrs.  John  Kenrick,  Newton. 
Photograph  of  Portrait   of  Goody    Davis,    i 636-1 752. 

—  Portrait  painted  two  years  before  her  death  ;  now  in  the 
possession  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society. 

Pewter  Platters  from  Old  Communion  Service.  — 
Loaned  by  Woodward  family,  Newton  Highlands  ;  used 
by  the  church  before  the  first  silver  service  was  obtained  ; 
date  unknown. 

Communion  Service  presented  to  the  Church  of 
Christ  in  Newton.  —  Donors:  John  Staples,  1727; 
Ebenezer  Stone,  Sr.,  1730;  Abraham  White,  1731  ;  Anna 
Longly,  1733;  Dea.  William  Trowbridge,  1744;  Dea. 
John  Stone,  1768;  Abigail  Parker,  1768;  UV.  J.,  1S36. 

1  William  Jackson. 


APPENDIX.  249 

Silver  Teapot  bearing  the  Arms  of  Sir  Henry  Gibbs. 
—  Loaned  by  Mrs.  William  P.  Gibbs,  Cambridge. 

Silver  Tankards. — Loaned  by  Mrs.  William  P.  Gibbs, 
Cambridge  ;  made  from  silver  sugar-box  owned  by  Henry 
Gibbs,  Esq.,  of  Newton. 

Foot-stone  of  Capt.  Thomas  Prentice,  i 676-1 730;  from 
the  old  Burying-ground,  Centre  Street. 

Revolutionary  Sword.  —  Loaned  by  the  Woodward  fam- 
ily, Newton  Highlands  ;  carried  by  Capt.  John  Wood- 
ward at  the  battle  of  Lexington. 

Old  Violin.  —  Loaned  by  the  Woodward  family,  Newton 
Highlands ;  used  by  Dea.  Elijah  F.  Woodward  in  the 
choir. 

Violoncello.  —  Loaned  by  the  Woodward  family,  Newton 
Highlands;  used  by  Mr.  Eben  Woodward  in  the  choir; 
made  and  sold  by  Benjamin  Crehor,  in  Milton,  1796- 

Lunch  Basket. — Loaned  by  the  Woodward  family,  New- 
ton Highlands  ;  used  on  the  Sabbath  by  the  Woodward 
family. 

Old  Foot-stove.  —  Loaned  by  the  Woodward  family,  New- 
ton Highlands;   used  in  the  Meeting-house,  1810  to  1847. 

Warming-pan. —  Loaned  by  the  Misses  Loring,  Newton 
Centre  ;  formerly  owned  by  Dr.  Homer. 

Curtains.  —  Loaned  by  Mrs.  S.  A.  Sylvester,  Newton  Cen- 
tre ;  spun,  woven,  and  embroidered  by  Hannah  Green- 
wood Woodward,   1730- 

Petition  in  the  Handwriting  of  the  Apostle  Eliot.  — 
Loaned  by  Dr.  Ellsworth  Eliot,  New  York  City  ;  bearing 
the  autographs  of  John  Eliot,  the  Apostle,  Gov.  John 
Winthrop,  and  others. 

Record  Book,  170S  to  1750.  —  Loaned  by  Mr.  John  Ward, 
Newton  Centre  ;  showing  cost  of  bread  and  wine  for  Com- 
munion services. 

Original  Report  of  the  Meeting  which  voted  to  set- 
tle Mr.  Jonathan  Homer  as  Minister  in  1781. — 
Loaned  by  Col.  L  F.  Kingsbury. 

Parish  Record  Books,  1778  to  1805. 

Proceedings  of  the  Committee  for  Building  a  New 
Meeting-house,  1805. 


250  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

Original  Contract  for  Building  New  Meeting-house, 

1805. 
List  of  Pew-holders  in  the  New  Meeting-house,  1805. 
List  of  Dr.  Homer's  Taxable  Property,  1814.  —  Loaned 

by  William  T.  Wardwell,  Newton  Centre. 
Letter  from  Jonathan  Homer  to  Dr.  James  Freeman, 

Aug.    5,    1816.  —  Loaned   by    Congregational    Library, 

Boston. 
Hymn  written  for  the  Fifty-fourth  Anniversary  of 

Dr.  Homer's  Settlement,  Feb.  21,  1836. 
Letter    from    Dr.    Homer   to   Mr.    Burnham,  1840. — 

Loaned  by  William  T.  Wardwell,  Newton  Centre. 
Letter  from  Dr.  Homer  to  a  Young  Friend.  — Loaned 

by  Mrs.  Lovejoy,  Chelsea. 
Pen-and-Ink   Sketch  of  the   Meeting-house  built  in 

1805. — Loaned  by  Miss  Sarah   Freeman  Clarke,  Mari- 
etta, Ga.  ;  drawn  from  memory  by  Miss  Clarke  in  18S9. 

Her  father.  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke,  was  the  architect  of  the 

building. 
Plan  of  THE  Meeting-house  built  in  1805. — Loaned  by 

Mr.  Samuel  Clarke,  Marietta,  Ga.  ;  drawn  from   memory 

by  Mr.  Clarke. 
Sketch  OF  THE  Meeting-house  built  in  1805. — Loaned 

by  Woodward  family,  Newton  Highlands ;  drawn  from 

memory  by  Miss  Harriet  Woodward. 
Sketch  of  the  Old  Vestry.  —  Loaned  by  the  Woodward 

family,  Newton  Highlands  ;  drawn  from  memory  by  Miss 

Harriet  Woodward. 
Sketch  of  the  Old  Vestry.  —  Loaned  by  Mr.  John  Ward, 

Newton  Centre  ;  drawn  by  O.  F.  Smith,  Newton  Centre, 

from  description  given  by  John  Ward. 
Photograph    of    the    Meeting-house,    about    1868.  — 

Loaned  by  Miss  Harriet  S.  Cousens,  Newton  Centre. 
Piece   of   Carpeting  from    Pulpit   Stairs    in    the  Old 

Meeting-house.  —  Loaned  by  Miss  Maria  L.  Brackett, 

Newton  Centre. 
Piece  of  Brocade  from  Curtain  back  of  the  Pulpit   in 

THE  Old  Meeting-house.  —  Loaned  by  Miss  Maria  L. 

Brackett,  Newton  Centre. 


APPENDIX.  25  I 

Piece  of  the  Pulpit  in  the  Old  Church.  —  Loaned  by 
Mrs.  George  F.  Stone,  Chestnut  Hill. 

Old  Table.  —  Loaned  by  Mrs.  John  Kenrick,  Newton  ;  for- 
merly owned  by  Rev.  Jonas  Meriam. 

Two  Chairs.  — Loaned  by  the  Misses  Jackson,  Newton; 
formerly  owned  by  Dr.  Homer. 

Two  Chairs.  — Loaned  by  the  Misses  Loring,  Newton  Cen- 
tre ;  formerly  owned  by  Dr.  Homer. 

Writing-stand.  —  Loaned  by  the  Misses  Loring,  Newton 
Centre  ;  formerly  owned  by  Dr.  Homer. 

Study  Table.  — Loaned  by  the  Misses  Loring,  Newton  Cen- 
tre ;  originally  owned  by  Mr.  John  Thwing,  afterwards 
by  Dr.  Homer. 

Stuffed  Chair.  —  Loaned  by  Mrs.  J.  F.  C.  Hyde,  Newton 
Centre  :  upholstered  with  one  of  the  curtains  from  behind 
the  pulpit  in  the  old  Meeting-house. 

Small  Bureau.  —  Loaned  by  the  Misses  Loring,  Newton 
Centre  ;  formerly  owned  by  Miss  Eddy,  the  ward  of  Dr. 
Homer,  and  daughter  of  Mr.  John  Eddy,  who  once 
owned  the  old  Rice  House. 

Book  of  Ancient  Hymns.  —  Loaned  by  the  Woodward 
fiimily,  Newton  Highlands. 

Book  of  Sermons  by  Cotton  Mather,  March  26,  16S6.  — 
Loaned  by  the  Woodward  family,  Newton  Highlands. 

"  The  Absence  of  the  Comforter  Described  and 
Lamented."  By  Rev.  Nehemiah  Hobart.  —  Loaned 
by  the  Congregational  Library,  Boston ;  published  in 
1717,  after  the  death  of  the  author. 

Sermons  by  Rev.  John  Cotton,  A.M.  —  Loaned  by  the 
Congregational  Library,  Boston  ;  delivered  in  Newton  in 
1741. 

Sermon  by  Dr.  Homer,  upon  the  decease  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Hammond,  of  Brookiine,  18 17. 

Collection  of  Sermons  and  Tracts  by  Dr.  Homer.  — 
Loaned  by  Hon.  J.  F.  C.  Hyde,  Newton  Centre;  pre- 
sented by  the  author  to  Mr.  James  Hyde. 

Book  owned  by  Mrs.  Homer.  —  Loaned  by  the  Misses 
Loring,  Newton  Centre ;  bequeathed  by  her  to  Mrs. 
Joshua  Loring. 


252  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 

The  Bible,  in  two  Volumes.  —  Loaned  by  Hon.  Robert  R. 
Bishop,  Newton  Centre  ;  given  by  Rev.  Nehemiah  Hobart 
to  his  daughter  Abigail,  on  her  marriage  to  Rev.  John 
Fisk,  settled  as  first  minister  of  North  Parish  in  Killingly, 
Conn.  ;  taken  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fisk  in  saddle-bags  from 
Newton  to  Killingly,  and  used  in  that  pulpit  for  many 
years  ;  now  owned  by  their  great-great-grandson,  Hon. 
Robert  R.  Bishop. 

Bible  owned  by  Mrs.  Homer,  1791.  —  Loaned  by  the 
Congregational  Library,  Boston  ;  with  annotations  by  Dr. 
Homer;  notice  of  the  death  of  their  only  child,  Jonathan 
Homer,  Jr.,  written  on  the  fly-leaf  by  Mrs.  Homer. 

Bible.  —  Loaned  by  Mrs.  Franklin  N.  Thatcher,  Newton  Cen- 
tre ;  presented  by  Dr.  Homer  to  Jonathan  Homer  Cheney. 

Columbian  Bible,  Edited  by  Dr.  Homer  ;  presented  by 
Dr.  Homer  to  the  First  Church  in  Newton. 

Bible. — Loaned  by  Mr.  Samuel  M.  Jackson,  Newton  Cen- 
tre ;  formerly  owned  by  Deacon  Samuel  Murdock. 

The  Works  of  Richard  Baxter;  four  vols.,  folio,  Lon- 
don, 1707.  —  On  a  fly-leaf  is  the  following:  "These 
practical  Works  of  the  Reverend  and  Learned  Mr.  Rich- 
ard Baxter,  in  four  volumes,  are  given  by  the  Honorable 
Samuel  Holden,  Esq.,  of  London,  Governor  of  the  Bank 
of  England,  to  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Newton,  to  be 
kept  by  the  Reverend  Pastor  for  the  use  of  the  Congre- 
gation, and  to  be  returned  by  those  that  at  any  time 
borrow  any  of  them  within  Two  Months.  By  the  Direc- 
tion and  Disposal  of  Benjamin  Colman  of  Boston." 

Old  Bible  of  the  Ward  Family.  —  Loaned  by  Mr. 
Samuel  Ward,  Newton  Centre;  containing  the  Ward 
genealogy  from  1626. 

Books  of  Tunes.  —  Loaned  by  the  Woodward  family, 
Newton  Highlands ;  pen  copied  by  Dea.  E.  F.  Wood- 
ward, and  used  in  the  choir,  1809. 

Old  Colony  Collection  of  Anthems.  —  Loaned  by  the 
Woodward  family,  Newton  Highlands ;  used  in  the 
choir,  1 82 1. 

A  Child's  Book  of  the  Last  Century.  —  Loaned  by  Mr. 
Daniel  Stone,  Chestnut  Hill. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    DECORATIONS. 


Over  the  main  entrance  to  the  church  was  a  beautiful  arrange- 
ment of  flags,  including  the  English,  Royal,  American,  New 
England,  and  Bunker-Hill  flags.  Upon  one  side  was  the 
date,  1664,  and  upon  the  other,  1S89,  the  figures  cut  from 
dark  plush   and   mounted  upon  a  background  of  white. 

All  the  arches  in  the  interior  were  crowned  with  mountain- 
laurel,  and  under  those  on  each  side  of  the  nave  were  sus- 
pended tablets,  trimmed  with  evergreen,  and  bearing  the  names 
of  the  nine  pastors,  with  their  time  of  service,  —  from  Rev. 
John  Eliot,  Jr.,  1664,  to  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  Theodore 
J.  Holmes,   18S3. 

The  gallery  at  the  rear  of  the  church  was  banked  with  spruce 
and  festooned  with  laurel. 

A  platform  was  erected  in  front  of  the  pulpit  for  the  speak- 
ers. On  this,  and  about  it,  was  a  profusion  of  potted  plants. 
The  palm,  emblem  of  constancy  and  victory,  lined  either  side  ; 
from  these  to  the  curved  front  were  massed  cannas,  ferns,  gera- 
niums, and  fuchsias,  with  urns  of  salvia. 

High  above  the  pulpit,  in  the  central  arch,  hung  a  large 
cross,  its  rich,  dark  background  of  spruce  studded  with  snow- 
white  dahlias. 

At  the  right  of  the  pulpit,  under  the  date  of  1664,  was  the 
English  flag.  At  the  left,  under  the  date  of  1889,  was  the  flag 
of  the  United  States,  —  the  church  having  been,  during  half  of 
its  history  under  the  English  government,  and  during  the 
other  half   under  the  stars  and  stripes. 

In  the  first  arch  at  the  left  was  the  following : — 


254  THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 


ROLL     OF     HONOR. 

Names  of  vohcnteers  f?'om  church  atid  parish  who  served  in 

the  war  of  1861-^1  for  the  preservation  of 

the  Union. 

Capt.  and  Brevet-Major  Ambrose  Bancroft,  320!  Inf.,  Mass. 
Vols. 

Geo.  F.  Brackett,  5th  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols.  ;  also  in  the  Navy, 
and  subsequently  Captain  of  75th  Inf.,  U.S.  Colored  Vols. 

Joseph  E.  Cousens,  Co.  K,  32d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols.,  and  after- 
ward Captain  54th  Inf.,  Mass.  Colored  Vols. 

Adjutant  Isaac  F.  Kingsbury,  33d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols. 

Sergeant-Major  Charles  Ward,  33d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols. 

ist  Sergt.  J.  Grafton  H.  Ward,  Co.  K,  33d  Inf.,  Mass. 
Vols. 

Theodore  L.  Brackett,  Co.  A,  ist  Cavalry,  Mass.  Vols. 

Seth  Cousens,  Co.  K,  33d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols. 

Albert  C.  Dearborn,  Co.  K,  32d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols. 

Roger  S.  Kingsbury,  Co.  K,  33d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols. 

George  H.  Nichols,  Co.  K,  32d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols. 

John  N.  Nichols,  Co.  K,  32d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols. 

Stephen  L.  Nichols,  Co.  K,  32d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols. 

Robert  W.  Somerville,  Co.  K,  32d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols. 

Jonathan  E.  Woodbridge,  Co.  K,  32d  Inf.,  Mass.  Vols. 

Sidney  Hazelton,  Co.  B,  44th  Inf.,  Mass.  Vol.  Militia. 

Edward  P.  Kingsbury,  Co.  B,  44th  Inf.,  Mass.  Vol.  Militia. 

John  E.  Towle,  Co.  B,  44th  Inf.,  Mass.  Vol.  Militia. 

Wm.  B.  Crafts,  Co.  C,  6th  Inf.,  Mass.  Vol.  Militia. 

Edw.  A.  Ellis,  Co.  C,  6th  Inf.,  Mass.  Vol.  Militia. 

The  Roll  was  festooned  with  laurel  and  tri-colored  bunting, 
and  a  large  silk  flag  was  draped  beneath  it. 

In  the  first  arch  at  the  right  was  a  panel,  trimmed  with 
laurel,  and  bearing  the  motto,  "  Lord,  thou  hast  been  our 
dwelling-place  in  all  generations."  At  the  right  of  this  was  a 
fine  charcoal  portrait  of  Dr.  Jonathan  Homer,  pastor  of  the 
church  from  1782  to  1839.     '^'"'^  church  is  indebted  to  Mr.  A. 


APPENDIX.  255 

C.  Fenety,  of  Boston,  for  this  portrait.  He  very  kindly  made 
it  from  a  silhouette  which  was  found  in  the  family  of  Hon. 
William  Jackson,  of  Newton.  Upon  the  other  side  of  the 
nave,  and   corresponding  with  this  portrait,  was  one  of  Dr. 

D.  L.  Furber,  pastor  of  the  church  from   1S47  *^°   1S82. 
The  second  arch  to  the  right  was  festooned  with  laurel,  and 

evergreens  were  massed  upon  its  surface,  against  which  was  a 
memorial  tablet,  framed  in  white,  and  bearing  the  inscription, 
"  Our  Beloved  in  the  Better  Land."  The  tablet  rested  upon  a 
bank  of  green,  composed  of  spruce  and  maiden-hair  ferns,  with 
here  and  there  knots  of  white  asters  and  calla-lilies.  Upon 
each  end  of  the  bank  stood  a  large  vase  of  mermet  roses  ;  and 
drooping  over  the  tablet  from  above  were  long  sprays  of  the 
passion-flower. 

The  effect  of  this  device  was  very  tender  and  beautiful,  and 
many  a  heart  responded  to  its  silent  tribute. 


256 


THE    FIRST    CHURCH    IN    NEWTON. 


QUARTET    CHOIR. 

George  H.  Brown,  Organist. 
Mrs.  Adelaide  G.  Terry,  Soprano.  Theodore  Chute,  Tenor. 

Mrs.  W.  H.  Pratt,  Alto.  W.  W.  Cole,  Bass. 


CHORUS    CHOIR. 

Col.  Isaac  F.  Kingsbury,  Leader. 


S»oprano. 

Mrs.  Daniel  A.  White,       Miss  Mary  E.  Tomlinson 
Mrs.  Stephen  C.  Hunter,  Miss  Alberta  H.  Ward, 
Miss  Martha  E.  Stone,       Miss  Sarah  A.  Holmes, 
Miss  G.  Helen  James,        Miss  Mary  P.  Sylvester, 
Miss  Carolyn  S.  Capron,    Miss  Helen  N.  Hawthorne,  Miss  Alice  L.  Lancaster. 
Miss  Annie  C.  Ward. 


Miss  Carrie  M.Thurston, 
Miss  Marcia  H.  Sylvester, 
Miss  Alice  H.  Sylvester, 
Miss  Alcie  G.  Brackett, 


aito. 

Miss  E.  Whittlesey,  Miss  Alice  Reed,  Miss  Fannie  L  Capron, 

Miss  Alice  G.  Holmes,       Miss  Bessie  Lancaster,       Miss  Emilie  F.  Hunter. 
Miss  Constantia  W.  Smith,  Miss  Carita  T.  Clark, 


Geo.  G.  Brown, 
Wm.  C.  Brown, 
J.  M.  E.  Drake, 


Fred.  F.  Cutler, 
Geo.  A.  Holmes, 
Jas.  F.  Edmands, 


Melzar  F.  H.  Stone, 
George  Walton, 
Mr.  Wagner. 


Daniel  Stone,  Henry  A.  Ball, 

Geo.  M.  Stone,  Harry  A.  Tomlinson, 

Edmund  T.  Wiswall,  William  T.  May, 

Edward  B.  Trowbridge,     Gustav  W.  Ulmer, 

Samuel  Ward. 


Stephen  C.  Hunter, 
Geo,  H.  May, 
Geo.  P.  Hazelton, 
Clarence  H.  Holmes, 


APPENDIX.  257 


MINISTERS. 

1.  JOHN  ELIOT,  Jr.,  son  of  the  Apostle  Eliot,  born  in  Roxbury,  Mass.; 

graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1656;  ordained  here,  July  20,  O.S.,  1664; 
died  here,  Oct.  11,  1668,  aged  32;  buried  in  the  old  burying-ground; 
pastor,  4  years. 

2.  NEHEMIAH  HOBART,  born  in  Hingham,  Mass.;  graduated  at  Har- 

vard College,  1667;  ordained  here,  Dec.  23,  1674;  died  here,  Aug.  25, 
1712,  aged  63;   buried  in  the  old  burying-ground;  pastor,  38  years. 

3.  JOHN  COTTON,  born  in  Sandwich,  Mass.;   graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 

lege, 1710;  ordained  here,  Nov.  3,  1714;  died  here.  May  17,  1757,  aged 
63;   buried  in  the  old  burying-ground;  pastor,  43  years. 

4.  JONAS  MERIAM,  born  in  Lexington,  Mass. ;  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 

lege, 1753;  ordained  here,  March  22,  1758;  died  here,  Aug.  13,  1780, 
aged  50;  pastor,  22  years. 

5.  JONATHAN  HOMER,  born   in   Boston,  Mass.;    graduated  at  Harvard 

College,  1777;  ordained  here,  Feb.  13,  1782;  died,  Aug.  11,  1843, 
aged  84;   buried  in  the  old  burying-ground;   pastor,  57  years. 

6.  JAMES  BATES,  born  in  Randolph,  Vt.;   graduated  at  Dartmouth  Col- 

lege, 1822;  ordained  here,  as  colleague  with  Dr.  Homer,  Nov.  14,  1827 ; 
died,  Dec.  9,  1865,  aged  66;  associate  pastor,  11  years. 

7.  WILLIAM  BUSHNELL,  born  in  Saybrook,  Conn.;  graduated  at  Yale 

College,  1828;  installed  here,  May  24,  1842;  died,  April  28,  1879,  aged 
78;    buried  in  the  old  burying-ground;  pastor,  5  years. 

8.  DANIEL    L.    FURBER,  born  in  Sandwich,  N.H.;  graduated  at  Dart- 

mouth College,  1843;  ordained  here,  Dec.  i,  1847;  resigned,  Dec.  3, 
1882,  and  heczme  pastor  emeritus  ;  pastor,  35  years. 

9.  THEODORE  J.  HOLMES,  born  in  Utica,  N.Y.;   graduated  at  Yale  Col- 

lege, 1853;  installed  here,  Oct.  24,  1883. 


MEETING  HOUSES. 

No.  I,  built  in  1660,  used  as  a  place  of  worship  38  years. 
No.  2,  built  in  1698,  used  as  a  place  of  worship  23  years. 
No.  3,  built  in  1721,  used  as  a  place  of  worship  84  years. 
No.  4,  built  in  1805,  used  as  a  place  of  worship  42  years. 
No.  5,  built  in  1847,  enlarged  in  1854  and  again  in  1869. 


258 


THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 


1664 


ORDER   OF   EXERCISES. 

FIRST  CONGREGATIONAL  MEETING  HOUSE, 


Newton  Centre, 


Massachusetts. 


225TH    ANNIVERSARY    OF    THE    GATHERING 


FIRST    CHURCH     IN     NEWTON, 

Sunday  and  Monday,  Oct.  6th  and  7th,  18S9. 


SUNDAY,  10.30   A.M. 

Te  Deum The  Choir. 

Reading  of  Scriptures Rev.  Alvah  Hovey,  D.D. 

Prayer Prof.  E.  A.  Park,  D.D. 

Hymn,  —  Cambridge Congregation. 

O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past,  Time,  like  an  ever-rolling  stream. 

Our  hope  for  years  to  come,  Bears  all  its  sons  away; 

Our  shelter  from  the  stormy  blast,  They  fly  forgotten,  as  a  dream 

And  our  eternal  home.  Dies  at  the  opening  day. 

A  thousand  ages  in  thy  sight  O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past, 

Are  like  an  evening  gone;  Our  hope  for  years  to  come. 

Short  as  the  watch  that  ends  the  night,  Be  thou  our  guard,  while  troubles  last. 

Before  the  rising  sun.  And  our  eternal  home. 

HISTORICAL   ADDRESS  BY  REV.  D.  L.  FURBER,  D.D.  {Pastor  Emeritus) . 


Hymn,  —  Dundee 


Congregation. 


Let  children  hear  the  mighty  deeds 
Which  God  performed  of  old, 

Which  in  our  younger  years  we  saw. 
And  which  our  fathers  told. 

He  bids  us  make  his  glories  known. 
His  works  of  power  and  grace ; 

And  ^ve'll  convey  his  wonders  down 
Through  every  rising  race. 


Our  lips  shall  tell  them  to  our  sons, 

And  they  again  to  theirs. 
That  generations  yet  unborn 

May  teach  them  to  their  heirs. 

Thus  shall  they  learn  in  God  alone 
Their  hope  securely  stands; 

That  they  may  ne'er  forget  his  works, 
But  practise  his  commands. 


BENEDICTION. 


SUNDAY,  3   P.M. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL    ANNIVERSARY. 

Historical  Address Mrs.  Eliza  G.  A.  Lane. 

Address Rev.  William  H.  Cobb. 

Address Rev.  George  M.  Boynton,  D.D. 

Singing  and  other  Exercises The  School. 


APPENDIX. 


259 


SUNDAY,  7   P.M. 


Anthem  — "  To  Thee  be  Praise  Forever,' 
Responsive  Reading  of  Scriptures. 
Hymn,  —  Nerthjield  .... 


—  Costa 


Congregation, 


Come,  let  us  join  our  cheerful  songs 
With  angels  round  the  throne; 

Ten  thousand  thousand  are  their  tongues. 
But  all  their  joys  are  one. 

"  Worthy  the  Lamb  that  died,"  they  cry, 

"  To  be  exalted  thus  ;  " 
"  Worthy  the  Lamb,"  our  lips  reply, 

"  For  he  was  slain  for  us." 


Jesus  is  worthy  to  receive 

Honor  and  power  divine; 
And  blessings,  more  than  we  can  give, 

Be,  Lord,  forever  thine. 

Let  all  that  dwell  above  the  sky. 
And  air,  and  earth,  and  seas. 

Conspire  to  lift  thy  glories  high, 
And  speak  thine  endless  praise. 


Prayer Rev.  S.  F.  Smith,  D.D. 


Anthem  —  "Jerusalem,  my  Glorious  Home"  . 


The  Choir  and  Chorus. 


HISTORICAL  ADDRESS   BY  REV.  THEODORE  J.  HOLMES  {Pastor). 
Hymn, —  St.  Gertrude Congregation. 


Onward,  Christian  soldiers. 

Marching  as  to  war. 
With  the  cross  of  Jesus 

Going  on  before. 
Christ  the  royal  Master 

Leads  against  the  foe; 
Forward  into  battle. 

See,  his  banners  go. 

Like  a  mighty  army 

Moves  the  Church  of  God; 
Brothers,  we  are  treading 

Where  the  saints  have  trod ; 


We  are  not  divided. 

All  one  body  we. 
One  in  hope  and  doctrine. 

One  in  charity. 

Crowns  and  thrones  may  perish, 

Kingdoms  rise  and  wane, 
But  the  Church  of  Jesus 

Constant  will  remain; 
Gates  of  hell  can  never 

'Gainst  that  Church  prevail; 
We  have  Christ's  own  promise, 

And  that  cannot  fail. 


BENEDICTION. 


MONDAY,    3  P.M. 


Hymn,  —  Old  Hundred     . 

From  all  that  dwell  below  the  skies. 
Let  the  Creator's  praise  arise; 
Let  the  Redeemer's  name  be  simg. 
Through  every  land,  by  every  tongue. 


Congregation. 


Eternal  are  thy  mercies.  Lord  ! 

Eternal  truth  attends  thy  word; 

Thy  praise  shall  sound  from  shore  to  shore, 

Till  suns  shall  rise  and  set  no  more. 


Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow! 
Praise  him,  all  creatures  here  below! 
Praise  him  above,  ye  heavenly  host! 
Praise  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 


Reading  of  Scriptures 

Prayer Rev.  George  G.  Phipps. 


26o 


THE     FIRST     CHURCH     IN     NEWTON. 


ADDRESS   OF   WELCOME   BY  THE    PASTOR. 

Anthem  —  "  Break  Forth  into  Joy,"  —  Barnhy The  Choir. 

Address Rev.  Lemuel  C.  Barnes. 

Address Rev.  Erastus  Blakeslee. 

Yl\s\^,  —  Duke  Street Congregation. 

O  God,  beneath  thy  guiding  hand  Laws,  freedom,  truth,  and  faith  in  God 

Our  exiled  fathers  crossed  the  sea,  Came  with  those  exiles  o'er  the  waves ; 

And  when  they  trod  the  wintry  strand,  And  where  their  pilgrim  feet  have  trod, 

With  prayer  and  psalm  they  worshipped  The  God  they  trusted  guards  their  graves, 
thee. 

Thou  heard'st,  well  pleased,  the  song,  the  And  here  thy  name,  O  God  of  love, 

prayer —  Their  children's  children  shall  adore. 

Thy  blessing  came;  and  still  its  power  Till  these  eternal  hills  remove, 

Shall  onward  through  all  ages  bear  And  spring  adorns  the  earth  no  more. 
The  memory  of  that  holy  hour. 

Address Rev.  Calvin  Cutler. 

Address Hon.  William  Claflin. 

Hymn,  —Belmont Congregation. 

Oh,  where  are  kings  and  empires  now.  For,  not  like  kingdoms  of  the  world, 

Of  old  that  went  and  came?  Thy  holy  church,  O  God  ; 

But,  Lord,  thy  church  is  praying  yet,  Tho'  earthquake  shocks  are  threatening  her, 

A  thousand  years  the  same.  And  tempests  are  abroad. 

We  mark  her  goodly  battlements.  Unshaken  as  eternal  hills, 

And  her  foundations  strong;  Immovable  she  stands. 

We  hear  within  the  solemn  voice  A  mountain  that  shall  fill  the  earth. 

Of  her  unending  song.  A  house  not  made  by  hands. 

ADDRESS    BY   REV.   N.   G.   CLARK,   D.D. 


Hymn,  —  St.  Thomas 


Congregation. 


To  bless  thy  chosen  race. 

In  mercy.  Lord,  incline. 
And  cause  the  brightness  of  thy  face 

On  all  thy  saints  to  shine; 

That  so  thy  wondrous  ways 
May  through  the  world  be  known. 

Whilst  distant  lands  their  tribute  pay, 
And  thv  salvation  own. 


Let  diff'ring  nations  join 

To  celebrate  thy  fame ; 
Let  all  the  world,  O  Lord,  combine 

To  praise  thy  glorious  name. 

Oh  let  them  shout  and  sing 

With  joy  and  pious  mirth. 
For  thou,  the  righteous  judge  and  king, 

Shalt  govern  all  the  earth. 

Tate  and  Brady. 


MONDAY,   5.30    P.M. 
COLLATION   AT   ASSOCIATES'   HALL. 


Be  present  at  our  table.  Lord, 
Be  here  and  everywhere  adored; 
These  creatures  bless,  and  grant  that  we 
May  feast  in  paradise  with  thee. 


We  thank  thee.  Lord,  for  this  our  food. 
But  more  because  of  Jesus'  blood; 
Let  manna  to  our  souls  be  given. 
The  bread  of  life  sent  down  from  heaven 


APPENDIX. 


261 


MONDAY,   7    P.M. 

Te  Deum The  Choir. 

Reading  of  Scriptures Rev.  W.  A.  Lamb. 

Prayer Prof.  W.   E.  Huntington,  Ph.D. 

Hymn,  —  Lenox Congregation. 


Blow  ye  the  trumpet,  blow ! 

The  gladly  solemn  sound  : 
Let  all  the  nations  know, 

To  earth's  remotest  bound. 
The  year  of  jubilee  is  come; 
Return,  ye  ransomed  sinners,  home. 

Jesus,  our  great  High-Priest, 
Hath  full  atonement  made : 
Ye  weary  spirits,  rest. 


Ye  mournful  souls,  be  glad; 
The  year  of  jubilee  is  come ; 
Return,  ye  ransomed  sinners,  home. 

Extol  the  Lamb  of  God, 

The  all-atoning  Lamb ; 
Redemption  in  his  blood, 

Throughout  the  world  proclaim  ; 
The  year  of  jubilee  is  come; 
Return,  ye  ransomed  sinners,  home. 


Letters. 

Address Rev.  D.  L.  Furber,  D.D. 

Address Winfield  S.  Slocum,  Esq. 

Hymn, —  Truro Congregation. 


Lift  up  your  heads,  ye  mighty  gates  !  Redeemer,  come  !   I  open  wide 

Behold,  the  King  of  glory  waits;  My  heart  to  thee  :  here.  Lord,  abide! 

The  King  of  kings  is  drawing  near,  Let  me  thy  inner  presence  feel. 

The  Saviour  of  the  world  is  here.  Thy  grace  and  love  in  me  reveal. 

The  Lord  is  just,  a  helper  tried.  So  come,  my  Sovereign,  enter  in; 

Mercy  is  ever  at  his  side;  Let  new  and  nobler  life  begin  : 

His  kingly  crown  is  holiness,  Thy  Holy  Spirit  guide  us  on. 

His  sceptre,  pity  in  distress.  Until  the  glorious  crown  be  won. 

Address Rev.  H.  J.  Patrick. 

Address Rev.  Wolcott  Calkins,  D.D. 

Anthem  —  "  Before  Jehovah's  Awful  Throne  "  .        .        .        .  Choir  and  Chorus. 

Address Rev.  Alexander  McKenzie,  D.D. 

Vix-M-a,  — Coronation Congregation. 


All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name! 

Let  angels  prostrate  fall ! 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 

And  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 


Let  every  kindred,  every  tribe. 
On  this  terrestrial  ball. 

To  him  all  majesty  ascribe. 
And  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 


Sinners  whose  love  can  ne'er  forget 
The  wormwood  and  the  gall. 

Go,  spread  your  trophies  at  his  feet, 
And  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 


Oh  that  with  yonder  sacred  throng 

We  at  his  feet  may  fall ! 
We'll  join  the  everlasting  song. 

And  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 


BENEDICTION. 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


Adams,  Rev.  Eliphalet,  31. 
Adams,  President  John,  80. 
Adams,  Samuel,  80. 
Adams,    Rev.  William,  of    Dedham, 

31  n. 
Ainsv/orth,  Henry,  168. 
Allen,  Rev.  Dr.  William,  28,  74,  89  n.  \ 
Ames,  Gov.  Oliver,  202,  243. 
Ashley,  Rev.  Jonathan,  72. 
Ashton,  Mrs.  S.  G.,  114,  145,  146. 
Austin,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel,  37. 
Ayres,  M.  C,  4. 

Backus,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles,  38. 
Bacon,  Rev.  James  M.,  86,  86  n.,  87, 

87  n.,  92. 
Bacon,  Joseph  N.,  143,  87  n. 
Bacon,  Maria  (Woodward),  87  n.,  92. 
Bailey,  Ruth  (Goodhue),  143. 
Ball,  Henry  A.,  256. 
Bancroft,  Maj.  Ambrose,  98,  254. 
Bancroft,  George,  23. 
Banfield,  Mrs.  F.  E.,  147. 
Barbauld,  Mrs.  Anna  L.,  140. 
Barber,  Rev.  Isaac  R.,  118. 
Barnard,  Rev.  John,  of  Marblehead, 

30.  31- 
Barnes,   Rev.  Lemuel  C,  6,  190,  191, 

260. 
Barstow,  Rev.  John,  94. 
Bates,  Rev.  James,  5,  16,  58,  59,  66, 

70,  94,  114,   132,  142,  210,  247, 

257- 
Bates,  Mrs.  James,  94. 
Bates,  Rev.  James  Atwood,  94,  247. 
Baxter,  Rev.  Richard,  25,  33  n.,  186, 

252, 


Beals,  Thomas.  97. 

Beecher,  Rev.  Henry  Ward,  24. 

Beecher,  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman,  55,  59,  62. 

Bellamy,  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph,  38,  90. 

Bennett,  Caroline,  143. 

Berkeley,  Bishop  George,  95. 

Bigelow,  Mary  (Hyde),  143. 

Billings,  WiUiam,  169. 

Bishop,  Judge  Robert  R.,  6,  7,  8,  10, 
89,  106,  185,  190,  194,  198,  201, 
207,  208,  209,  211,  212,  215,216, 
221,  223,  224,  243,  244,  245,  246, 
252. 

Bishop,  Mrs.  Robert  R.,  244,  245. 

Blake,  Rev.  Dr.  John  L.,  48. 

Blakeslee,  Rev.  Erastus,  6,  94,  194, 
260. 

Blatchford,  Mrs.  E.  W.,  91,  105. 

Bliss,  Leonard,  Jr.,  74. 

Bowen,  Henry  C,  88,  106. 

Bowles,  William,  98. 

Boylston,  Dr.  Zabdiel,  36. 

Boynton,  Rev.  Dr.  George  M.,  6,  131, 

135.  258. 
Boynton,  Mrs.  Julia  H.,  147. 
Boynton,  Louis  H.,  9. 
Brackett,  Alcie  G.,  256. 
Brackett,  Charles,  248. 
Brackett,  Mrs.  Charles,  248. 
Brackett,  Capt.  George  F.,  98,  99,  254. 
Brackett,  Rev.  Dr.  Gilbert  R.,  94. 
Brackett,  Maria  L.,  9,  248,  250. 
Brackett,  Theodore  L.,  103,  254. 
Bradford,  Gov.  William,  180. 
Brady,  Nicholas,  169,  170,  260. 
Brainerd,  Rev.  David,  94,  iii,  112. 
Brainerd,  Dorothy  (Hobart),  94. 


264 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


Bridges,  Emeline  (Whittemore),  143. 

Bridges,  Julia  (Whittemore),  143. 

Brown,  George  G.,  256. 

Brown,  George  H.,  10,  256. 

Brown,  Rev.  John,  of  Haverhill,  44  n. 

Brown,  WiUiam  C,  256. 

Browning,  Robert,  213. 

Bucklin,  Sarah,  203. 

Buckminster,  Rev.  Joseph,  of  Rut- 
land, 73. 

Buckminster,  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph,  of 
Portsmouth,  N.H.,  73,  105. 

Buckminster,  Rev.  Joseph  Stevens,  of 
Boston,  73,  105. 

Bunyan,  John,  25,  213. 

Burnham,  Rev.  Dr.  Michael,  86. 

Bushnell,  Henry  K.,  247. 

Bushnell,  Rev.  William,  5,  16,  52,  56, 
61,  67,  70,  132,  210,  247,  257. 

Buxton,  Hon.  Sidney,  i87n. 

Calkins,    Rev.  Dr.    Wolcott,    6,   221, 

261. 
Calvin,  John,  19,  22,  23,  52  n. 
Capron,  Carolyn  S.,  9,  256. 
Capron,  Fannie  I.,  256. 
Channing,  Rev.  Dr.  William  E.,  117, 

189. 
Charles  II.,  25. 
Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  213. 
Chauncj,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles,  31,  72. 
Cheney,  Jonathan  Homer,  252. 
Cheney,  Julia  (Cheney),  143. 
Cheney,  Mary  (Cotton),  81,  90. 
Cheney,  Rev.  Thomas,  81,  90. 
Childs,  Beulah,  143. 
Childs,  Mary  A.,  143. 
Chute,  Theodore,  256. 
Claflin,  Hon.  William,  202,  206,  207, 

208,  211,  260. 
Claflin,  Mrs.  William,  203. 
Clark,  Carita  T.,  256. 
Clark,  Rev.  Jonas,  71,  79,  80,  81,  105. 
Clark,  Mary,  132,  138,  140. 
Clark,  Rev.  Dr.  N.  G.,  10,  207,  260. 
Clark,  William,  97. 


Clarke,  Alice  E.,  146. 

Clarke,  Rev.  Dr.  James  Freeman,  88, 

106. 
Clarke,  Norman,  97. 
Clarke,  Norman,  Jr.,  98. 
Clarke,  Dr.  Samuel,  250. 
Clarke,  Samuel,  250. 
Clarke,  Sarah  Freeman,  159,  250. 
Cobb,  Rev.  William  H.,  6,   131,   133, 

147,  258. 
Codman,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  5,  6,  52,  53, 

56. 
Colby,  Mrs.  Gardner,  132. 
Cole,  W.  W.,  256. 
Collins,  Mrs.  E.  L.,  9. 
Colman,  Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin,  30,   ;^^, 

33  n.,  252. 
Colman,  Benjamin,  247. 
Cook,  Anna  (Cotton),  90. 
Cook,   Asa,   5,  66,   68,   69,  92,    115, 

143,  248. 
Cook,  "Father,"  145. 
Cook,  Capt.  Phineas,  96. 
Cook,  Rev.  Samuel,  90. 
Cotton,  Rev.  John,  of  Boston,  15,  19, 

32,  33-  73.  94- 

Cotton,  Rev.  John,  of  Newton,  5,  15, 
19,  20,  25,  34,  35,  44,  44n.,  70, 
73,  81,  94,  106,  112,  113,  114, 
121,  122,  132,  135,  211,  251,  257. 

Cotton,  Rev.  Roland,  15. 

Cousens,  Harriet  S.,  9,  145,  250. 

Cousens,  Horace,  8. 

Cousens,  Capt.  Joseph  E.,  99,  254. 

Cousens,  Seth,  103,  254. 

Coverdale,  Rev.  Miles,  51  n. 

Craft,  Joseph,  98. 

Crafts,  George  E.,  10. 

Crafts,  Wilham  B.,  254. 

Cranmer,  Thomas,  51  n.,  5211. 

Crehor,  Benjamin,  249. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  213. 

Cummings,  Rev.  J.  A.,  140. 

Curtis,  Nelson,  144. 

Cashing,  Rev.  Jacob,  74. 

Gushing,  Rev.  Job,  74. 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


265 


Cutler,  Rev.  Calvin,  6,  198,  260. 
Cutler,  Fred  F.,  256. 
Cutler,  James,  147. 

Dabney,  John  P.,  54  n. 

Daly,  William  H.,  99. 

Danforth,  Rev.  Samuel,  32. 

Daniels,  Maria  S.,  9. 

Darwin,  Charles,  22. 

Davenport,  Susannah,  143. 

Davis,  Charles  S.,  7,  8,  9,  144. 

Davis,  Mrs.  Charles  S.,  9. 

Davis,  George  P.,  144,  147. 

Davis,  Goody,  248. 

Davis,  Rev.  Increase  Sumner,  62,  83, 

84,  85,   92,   III,   115,  142,  i75> 

248. 
Davis,  Nancy  (Cook) ,  92. 
Davis,  Seth,  62. 
Davis,  Hon.  Thomas  A.,  92. 
Day,  Mary  Ann  (Goddard),  143. 
Dearborn,  Albert  C,  254. 
De  Tocqueville,  Alexis,  228. 
Dewey,  Mrs.  H.  P.,  94. 
Dodd,  Rev.  S.  G.,  37  n. 
Doddridge,  Rev.  Dr.  Philip,  72. 
Dolbear,  Mr.,  135. 
Drake,  James  M.  E.,  9,  147,  256. 
Druce,  John,  96. 
Dudley,  Gov.  Joseph,  32. 
Dwight,  Gen.  Joseph,  90. 
[Dwight,  Mrs.  Joseph,  see  Sergeant, 

Abigail  (Williams).] 

Eaton,  Rev.  Joshua,  88. 
Eaton,  Sarah  (Eliot),  88. 
Eddy,  Mrs.  Ann,  154. 
Eddy,  Benjamin,  97,  98. 
Eddy,  John,  98,  251. 
Eddy,  Miss,  251. 
Edmands,  James  F.,  256. 
Edwards,  Prof.  Bela  B.,  50,  54. 
Edwards,  Mrs.  Bela  B.,  91,  105. 
Edwards,  Rev.  Jonathan,  38,  72,  77. 
Edwards,  Sarah  (Pierrepont),  95. 
Eliot,  President  Charles  W.,  180. 


EHot,  Ellsworth,  246,  249. 

Eliot,  Rev.  Jared,  95. 

Eliot,  Rev.  John  (the  Apostle),  15, 
27,  75»  95'  "2,  132,  168,  173, 
176,  177,  178,  224,  245,  246,  249. 

Eliot,  Rev.  John,  Jr.,  5,  6,  15,  27,  29, 
29  n.,  70,  95,  106,  123,  132,  211, 

245.  253>  257. 
Eliot,  Judge  John,  3d,  29  n.,  106. 
Eliot,  Rev.  Joseph,  95. 
Eliot,  Sarah  (Willet),  95. 
Eliot,  Samuel,  125. 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  52  n.,  53  n. 
Ellis,  Edward  A.,  98,  254. 
Emmons,     Rev.    Dr.   Nathanael,  37, 

40  n.,  41  n.,  90. 
Endicott,  Capt.,  162. 
Estabrook,  Rev.  Hobart,  89. 
Estabrook,  Sarah  (Williams),  89. 
Everett,  Alice,    143. 
Everett,  Edward,  80. 

Farnham,  D.  S.,  147. 

Fenety,  A.  C,  255. 

Fisk,  Abigail  (Hobart),  89,  153,  187, 
252. 

Fisk,  Rev.  John,  89,  252. 

Fiske,  Rev.  Dr.  D.  T.,  208. 

Fiske,  Mrs.  D.  T.,  94,  208. 

Fiske,  John,  23. 

Flagg,  Joshua,  98. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  95. 

Freeman,  Rev.  Dr.  James,  49,  52,  250. 

Froude,  James  Anthony,  22. 

Fuller,  Abram,  98. 

Fuller,  Capt.  Amariah,  96. 

Fuller,  Daniel,  98,  217. 

Fuller,  Hannah  (Jackson),  143,  247. 

Fuller,  Joel,  119,  120. 

Furber,  Rev.  Dr.  Daniel  L.,  5,6,  11, 
II  n.,  13,  16,  17,  70,  132,  145, 
151,  176, 187,  188,  205,  206,207, 
208,  209,215,219,  223,  235,  239, 
244,247,255,257,  258,261. 

Furber,  Mrs.  Maria  B.,  6,  145,  208, 
219.  239,  241,  242. 


266 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


Gibbs,  Henry,  153,  247,  249. 
Gibbs,  Mrs.  William  P.,  247,  249. 
Gilbert,  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman,  52,  56,  92, 

119,  219. 
Gilbert,  Marian   (Jackson),  92,   143. 
Gladstone,  Hon.  William  E.,  213. 
Goddard,  Joseph,  142. 
Goddard,  Mrs.  Joseph,  143. 
Goodhue,  Clarissa,  143. 
Goodridge,  Lucy,  147. 
Goodwin,  Joseph  O.,  162. 
Gookin,  Daniel,  29  n. 
Gould,  Prof.  Ezra  P.,  145. 
Grafton,  Rev.  Joseph,  52,  56,  57,  58, 

189,  190. 
Green,  Rev.  Jonathan  S.,  117,  118. 
Greenough,  Rev.  Wilham,  50,  52,  55, 

139,  219,  244. 
Greenwood,  John,  74. 
Greenwood,  Rev.  Thomas,  71,  74. 
Greenwood,  Mrs.  Thomas,  74. 
Grover,  Zuinglius,  143. 

Hale,  Nathan,  197. 
Hall,  John,  30. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  186. 
Hammond,  Col.  Benjamin,  37,  96. 
Hammond,  Capt.  Joshua,  98,  172. 
Hammond,  Samuel,  251. 
Hammond,  William,  98. 
Hancock,  John,  80. 
Hardy,  Rev.  George,  86. 
Harris,  Rev.  Dr.  William,  81. 
Harvey,  G.,  245. 
Harwood,  A.  L.,  9,  147. 
Haven,  Miss  A.,  138. 
Haven,  Rev.  Jason,  81. 
Hawthorne,  Helen  N.,  256. 
Hawthorne,  Robert,  9. 
Hawthorne,  Mrs.  Robert,  9. 
Hazelton,  George  P.,  256. 
Hazelton,  Sidney,  254. 
Hegel,  Georg  W.  F.,  22. 
Henry  VIH.,  51  n. 
Hicks,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  71. 
Hincks,  Mrs.  E.  Y.,  94. 


Hoar,  Hon.  George  F.,  186. 

Hobart,  Hannah,  89. 

Hobart,  Rev.  Nehemiah,  5,  15,  19,20, 
20  n.,  21,  26,  30,  31,  32,  32  n.,  70, 
89,  89  n.  ',  94, 106,  III,  120,  123, 
132,  153.  155.  187.  211,  211  n., 
251,  252,  257. 

Hobart,  Rev.  Peter,  15. 

Holden,  Hon.  Samuel,  33  n.,  252. 

Holmes,  Alice  G.,  147,  256. 

Holmes,  Clarence  H.,  256. 

Holmes,  George  H.,  147,  256. 

Holmes,  Sarah  A.,  147,  256. 

Holmes,  Rev.  Theodore  J.,  5,  6,  7,  8, 
17,  70,  104,  132,  149,  185,  188, 
207,  223,  239,253,  257,  259,  260. 

Holyoke,  Rev.  Edward,  32. 

Homer,  George,  Jr.,  46,  47. 

Homer,  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan,  5,  16,  30, 
40,  44,  45,  47,  48,  49,  50,  51  n., 
52,  52  n.,  53,  53n.,  54,  54  n.,  55, 
56,  57>  58,  59,  66,  70,  71,  78,  83, 
88,  113,  114,  115,  116,  117,  122, 
132,  139.  157,164,  i66,  172,173, 
174,  189,  190,  210,  219,244,247, 
249,  250,  251,  252,  254,  257. 

Homer,  Mrs.  Jonathan,  52,  56,  116, 
138,  175,  251,  252. 

Homer,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  252. 

Hooker,  Mary  (Willet),  95. 

Hooker,  Samuel  (son  of  Thomas),  95. 

Hooker,  Rev.  Thomas,  95. 

Hopkins,  Prof.  Albert,  90,  105. 

Hopkins,  John,  168. 

Hopkins,  Rev.  Dr.  Mark,  90,  105, 
III. 

Hopkins,  Col.  Mark,  90. 

Hopkins,  Mrs.  Col.  Mark,  90. 

Hopkins,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel,  38,  90. 

Hovey,  Rev.  Dr.  Alvah,  258. 

Hoyt,  Mary  Ann,  140. 

Hubbard,  Rev.  William,  28. 

Hull,  Gen.  William,  88,  97,  142,  175. 

Hume,  David,  23. 

Hunter,  Emilie  F.,  256. 

Hunter,  Stephen  C,  147,  256. 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


267 


Hunter,  Mrs.  Stephen  C,  256. 

Hunter,  S.  V.  A.,  10. 

Huntington,  Prof.  W.  E.,  208,  261. 

Hyde,  Daniel,  98. 

Hyde,  George,  248. 

Hyde,  James,  251. 

Hyde,  James  F.  C,  143,  251. 

Hyde,  Mrs.  J.  F.  C,  251. 

Hyde,  Noah,  98. 

Hyde,  Samuel,  97. 

Hyde,  Capt.  Samuel,  62,  248. 

Hyde,  Mrs.  Samuel,  248. 

Hyde,  William,  98. 

Ide,  Rev.  Dr.  Jacob,  41  n.,  86. 
Ingersoll,  Robert,  214. 

Jackson,  Rev.  Edward,  71,  75,  76. 

Jackson,  Dea.  Edward,  26,  75. 

Jackson,  Edward,  Jr.,  75. 

Jackson,  Edward,  97. 

Jackson,  Mrs.  Hannah  (Woodward), 
247. 

Jackson,  John,  75. 

Jackson,  Joseph,  97. 

Jackson,  Joshua,  97. 

Jackson,  Col.  Michael,  43,  96. 

Jackson,  Misses,  247,  251. 

Jackson,  Samuel,  97. 

Jackson,  Samuel  M.,  8,  252. 

Jackson,  Timothy,  97. 

Jackson,  William,  5,  59,  62,  63,  64,  65, 
66, 67,  70,  74, 89  n.  S  92,  107,  1 1 1, 
115,  117, 118,  119,  120,  139,  142, 
143,   166,  172,    175,   247,    248  n., 

255- 
James  I.,  50,  51,  54  n. 
James,  G.  Helen,  256. 
Jenks,  Rev.  Dr.  William,  51  n. 

Kenrick,  John,  37,  97. 
Kenrick,  Mrs.  John,  248,  251. 
Kenrick,  Mehitable  (Meriam),  37. 
Kidder,  Daniel  T.,  Jr.,  9. 
King,  Moses,  217. 
Kingsbury,  Benjamin  W.,  143. 


Kingsbury,  Charles,  143. 
Kingsbury,  Rev.  Charles  A.,  94,  144. 
Kingsbury,  Rev.  Edward  P.,   87,  99, 

254- 
Kingsbury,  Francis  H.,  144. 
Kingsbury,  Frank,  99. 
Kingsbury,  Harriet  (Homer),  143. 
Kingsbury,  Harriet  J.,  145. 
Kingsbury,  Isaac,  143. 
Kingsbury,  Col.  Isaac  F.,  9,  10,  98, 

100,  143,  249,  254,  256. 
Kingsbury,  Mary  Ann  (Homer),  143. 
Kingsbury,  Roger  S.,  98,  100,  254. 
Knapp,  W.  O.,  9. 

Lamb,  Rev.  W.  A.,  208,  261. 

Lancaster,  Alice  L.,  256. 

Lancaster,  Bessie,  256. 

Lancaster,  Mrs.  C.  B.,  9. 

Lane,  Mrs.  Eliza  G.  A.,  6,  131,  138, 

147,  258. 
Lawrence,  Rev.  A.  E.,  145. 
Lechford,  Thomas,  164,  168,  173. 
Leverett,  Rev.  John,  31,  32. 
Lindemann,  Lena,  146. 
Little,  Albert,  143,  144. 
Little,  Mrs.  Albert,  144. 
Longly,  Anna,  248. 
Loring,  Hannah,  140,  141,  249,  251. 
Loring,  Mrs.  Joshua,  140,  251. 
Loring,  Mary,  140,  141,  249,  251. 
Lovejoy,  Mrs.,  250. 
Lowell,  Judge  John,  37. 
Luther,  Martin,  22. 
Lyman,  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph,  of  Hatfield, 

37- 

McKean,  Rev.  Dr.  Silas,  85. 
McKenzie,  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander,  6,  218, 

224,  235,  261. 
Manning,   Cardinal    Henry    E.,    187^ 

187  n. 
Marvin,  Rev.  A.  P.,  74. 
Mary,  Queen,  51  n. 
Mason,  Abigail  (Hall),  143. 
Mather,   Rev.  Dr.  Cotton,    30,    125, 

176,  251. 


268 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


Mather,  Rev.  Dr.  Increase,  30,  72. 

Mather,  Rev.  Richard,  27. 

Mathew,  Rev.  Thomas,  51  n. 

May,  George  H.,  256. 

May,  WiUiam  T.,  256. 

Mead,  Mrs.  E.  S.,  91,  105. 

Mead,  Mrs.  Harriet  N.  (Childs),  94, 

112,  146. 
Mears,  Rev.  Dr.  David  O.,  86. 
Mellen,  Rev.  John,  75. 
Meriam,  Rev.  Jonas,  5,  16,  35,  36,  37, 

39,  43>  123,  132,   172,   188,  210, 

248,  251,  257. 
Metcalf,  Rev.  Mr.  (Stratham,  N.H.), 

49. 
Mill,  John  Stuart,  22. 
Miller,  Thomas,  97. 
Milton,  John,  25,  213. 
*Mitchel,  Rev.  Jonathan,  27,  43,  224. 
Mitchel,  Margaret  (Shepard),  225. 
Mitchell,  Miss  S.,  138. 
Moore,  Rev.  Dr.  Zephaniah,  37. 
Morton,  John,  91  n. 
Murdock,  Aaron,  98. 
Murdock,  John,  98. 
Murdock,  Joshua,  98. 
Murdock,  Samuel,  98,  252. 

Newell,  Harriet,  94. 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  25. 

Nichols,  George  H.,  100,  103,  254. 

Nichols,  John  N.,  254. 

Nichols,  Stephen  L.,  103,  254. 

Norton,  Rev.  Edward,  86. 

Noyes,  Edward  W.,  9,  144,  147. 

Oliver,  Thomas,  75. 
Ordway,  Herbert  I.,  9,  246. 

Palfrey,  J.  G.,  163. 
Palmerston,  Hon.  Henry  J.  T.,  213. 
Park,  Rev.  Dr.  Calvin,  88,  106. 
Park,  Rev.  Charles  W.,  91. 


Park,  Prof.  Edwards  A.,  47,  48,  53, 

88,  91,  106,  243,  258. 
Park,  Gideon,  97. 
Park,  John,  113. 
Park,  Rev.  Joseph,  71,  76,  77,  78, 106, 

III,  112. 
Park,  Martha,  72  n. 
Park,  Nathan,  47,  48. 
Park,  Richard,  48,  76. 
Park,  Prof.  Thomas,  88,  106. 
Park,  William,  72  n. 
Parker,  Abigail,  248. 
Parker,  Ebenezer,  97. 
Patrick,  Rev.  Henry  J.,  6,  216,  221, 

261. 
Paul,  Harriet,  248. 
Paul,  Dea.  Luther,  5, 68,  69,  143,  248. 
Paul,  Mrs.  Luther,  248. 
Paul,  Luther,  8. 
Pemberton,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  30. 
Phelps,  Prof.  Austin,  82. 
Phelps,  Rev.  Eliakim,  82. 
PhiHp,  King,  96,  178. 
Phillipps,  John,  135. 
Phipps,  Rev.  George  G.,  185,  259. 
Pierce,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  37,  52. 
"  Pompey,"  175. 
Pope,   Mrs.   Anna    (Hammond),    5, 

37,  39,  40n.,  41  n.,  70,  91,  195, 

247. 
Pope,  Rev.  Joseph,  37,  40  n.,  41  n. 
Porter,  Ernest,  9. 
Pratt,  Mrs.  W.  H.,  256. 
Prentice,  Rev.  John,  71,  74. 
Prentice,  Capt.  Thomas,  96,  249. 
Preston,  Mrs.  Mary,  248. 
Pulsifer,  Beulah  (Bacon),  143. 

Quincy,  Col.  Edmund,  95. 

[Quincy  Mrs.  Col.  Edmund,  see  Eliot, 

Sarah  (Willet).] 
Quincy,  Judge  Edmund,  95. 
Quincy,  Eliza  Susan  (Morton),  91  n. 


*This  name  is  spelled  both  Mitchel  and  Mitchell  by  good  authorities.  Vid.  Harv. 
Univ.  Catalogue;  Sibley's  Graduates  Harv.  Univ.;  McKenzie's  Lectures  on  Hist. 
First  Ch.  Cambridge;  Paige's  Hist.  Cambridge,  p.  26S,  note. 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


269 


Quincy,  President  Josiah,   91  n.,  95, 
106. 

Raikes,  Robert,  78,  106. 

Rand,  Mrs.  Edwin  R.,  9. 

Randall,  Mary,  143. 

Ransom,  Mrs.  C.  M.,  9. 

Ransom,  Emma,  147. 

Ransom,  Eva,  147. 

Reed,  Alice,  256. 

Rice,  Marshall  O.,  9. 

Rice,  Mrs.  Marshall  O.,  9. 

Rice,  Marshall  S.,  160,  208. 

Ripley,  Prof.  Henry  J.,  89  n.  -. 

Rising,  Mrs.  Julius  A.,  247. 

Robbins,  Eliphalet,  154. 

Robbins,  Phineas,  98. 

Robbins,  Solomon,  98. 

[Robertson,  Bertha,  see  Roper,  Mrs. 

Charles  F.] 
Rogers,  Gamaliel,  135. 
Rogers,  Rev.  John,  51  n.,  75. 
Rogers,  Lieut.  John,  98,  161. 
Rogers,  John,  164. 
Rogers,  John,  245. 
Roper,  Mrs.  Charles  F.,  94,  112,  146. 

Salter,  Mary  (Williams),  89. 
Salter,  Rev.  Dr.  Richard,  89. 
Sampson,     Elizabeth     (Smallvvood), 

143- 
Sargent,  Rev.  Frank  D.,  94. 
Schopenhauer,  Arthur,  22. 
Scudder,  Mrs.  F.  H.,  9. 
Seager,  Ebenezer,  98. 
Sedgwick,  Catherine  Maria,  91,  105. 
Sedgwick,  Judge  Theodore,  90,  105. 
Sedgwick,  Mrs.  Theodore,  90. 
Sergeant,  Abigail  (Williams),  90,  91, 

91  n.,  III. 
Sergeant,  Rev.  John,  90,  iii,  112. 
Sergeant,  Rev.  John,  Jr.,  90,  iii,  112. 
Sewall,  Chief  Justice  Joseph,  32,  32  n., 

160,  167,  168. 
Shakespeare,  William,  213. 
Shedd,  Ehza  (Thayer),  91,  208. 


Shedd,  Rev.  Marshall,  92. 

Shedd,   Prof.   William  G.  T.,  22,  92, 

107,  208,  244. 
Sheldon,  Hon.  George,  89  n.  *. 
Shepard,  Rev.  Thomas,  181,  224. 
Shurtleff,  Rev.  Dr.  Roswell,  91. 
Shurtleff,  Mrs.  Roswell,  91. 
Slocum,  Winfield  S.,  6,  211,  212,  261. 
Slocum,  Mrs.  Winfield  S.,  211,  212. 
Smith,  Constantia  W.,  256. 
Smith,  Prof.  Henry  B.,  22. 
Smith,  O.  F.,  9,  250. 
Smith,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  F.,  6,  46,  56,  142, 

172,  185,215,259. 
Smith,  Rev.  S.  S.,  66,  67. 
Smith,  Sarah  L.,  94,  112,  146. 
Somerville,  Robert  W.,  254. 
Sprague,  Rev.  Dr.  William  B.,  89  n.  '. 
Spring,   Rev.  Dr.  Samuel,  37,  40  n., 

41  n.,  90. 
Staples,  John,  248. 
Sternhold,  Thomas,  168. 
Stevens,  Miss  E.  C,  143. 
Stiles,  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra,  31. 
Stoddard,  Rev.  Solomon,  72. 
Stone,  Daniel,  8,  248,  252,  256. 
Stone,  David,  96. 
Stone,  Ebenezer,  248. 
Stone,  Mrs.  George  F.,  248,  25 1 . 
Stone,  George  M.,  256. 
Stone,  James,  98. 
Stone,  John,  98,  248. 
Stone,  Jonas,  96. 
Stone,  Jonathan,  248. 
Stone,  Martha  E.,  256. 
Stone,  Melzar  F.  H.,  256. 
Storrs,  Eunice  (Conant),  89. 
Storrs,  Rev.  John,  89. 
Storrs,  Rev.  Richard  Salter,  89. 
Storrs,  Rev.  Dr.   Richard  Salter,  Jr., 

89,  106. 
Storrs,  Rev.  Dr.   Richard  Salter,  3d, 

89,  106,  III. 
Stowe,  Mrs.   Harriet  Beecher,   24  n., 

54- 

Sylvester,  Alice  H.,  256. 


270 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


Sylvester,  Marcia  H.,  256. 
Sylvester,  Mary  P.,  147,  256. 
Sylvester,  Mrs.  S.  A.,  9,  147,  249. 

Tappan,  Lewis,  64,  92. 
Tappan,  Mrs.  Lewis,  92. 
Tappan,  Sarah  (Jackson),  143. 
Tate,  Nahum,  169,  170,  260. 
Tennant,  Rev.  Gilbert,  77,  122. 
Tennyson,  Alfred,  213. 
Terry,  Mrs.  Adelaide  G.,  256. 
Thatcher,  Mrs.  Franklin  N.,  252. 
Thayer,  Rev.  Ezra,  90. 
Thayer,  Judith  (Williams),  90. 
Thayer,  Martha  (Cotton),  90. 
Thayer,  Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel,  90,  106. 
Thayer,  Nathaniel,  90,  106. 
Thurston,  Carrie  M.,  256. 
Thwing,  John,  98,  251. 
"Tillo,"  142,  175. 
Tomlinson,  Harry  A.,  256. 
Tomlinson,  Mary  E.,  256. 
Tomlinson,  William,  9. 
Torrey,  EHzabeth  (Fisk),  89. 
Torrey,  Hannah  (Fisk),  89. 
Torrey,  Rev.  Joseph,  89. 
Torrey,  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph,  89,  106. 
Torrey,  Joseph  A.,  211  n. 
Torrey,  Rev.  Samuel,  167. 
Tourjee,  Mrs.  Dr.  Eben  [Miss  Lee], 

144. 
Towle,  Prof.  James  A.,  94. 
Towle,  John  E.,  99,  254. 
Trapp,  Rev.  John,  126. 
Trowbridge,  Rev.  Caleb,  71,  75. 
Trowbridge,  Edmund,  98. 
Trowbridge,  Edward' B.,  256. 
Trowbridge,  Elizabeth  (Bacon),  143. 
Trowbridge,  James,  75. 
Trowbridge,  Otis,  141,  143. 
Trowbridge,  William,  248. 
Trumbull,  Gov.  Jonathan,  73  n. 
Tucker,  Rev.  Thomas  W.,  204. 
Turner,  Charles  W.,  145. 
Turner,  R.  W.,  143. 
Tyler,  Abraham,  166. 


Tyndale,  William,  5 1  n.,  54  n. 

Upham,  Mrs.  William,  247. 
Ulmer,  Gustav  W.,  256. 

Wadsworth,  Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin,  30. 
Wagner,  Mr.,  256. 
Walton,  George,  256. 
Walworth,  Arthur  C,  7,  8,  9. 
Ward,  Alberta  H.,  256. 
Ward,  Andrew  H.,  217. 
Ward,  Annie  C,  147,  247,256. 
Ward,    Charles,    98,    100,    loi,    102, 

103,  104,  196,  254. 
Ward,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps, 

79- 
Ward,  Rev.  Ephraim,    71,  81,  82,  83, 

247. 
Ward,  Dea.  Ephraim,  81,  247. 
Ward,  Grafton  H.,  103,  254. 
Ward,  Herbert  D.,  79. 
Ward,  Rev.  James  W.,  79. 
Ward,  John,  98. 

Ward,  John,  8,  143,  145,  249,  250. 
Ward,  Jonathan,  79. 
Ward,  Joseph,  97. 
Ward,  Col.  Joseph,  97. 
Ward,  Langdon  S.,  9,  147. 
Ward,  Mary  (Colman),  247. 
Ward,  Rev.  Nathan,  71,  78,  79. 
Ward,  Samuel,  98. 
Ward,  Samuel,  7,  8,  9,   131,  138,  144, 

145,  147,  252,  256. 
Ward,  Mrs.  Samuel,  147. 
Ward,  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  Hayes,  79,  106. 
Ward,  William  H.,  104. 
Wardwell,  William  T.,  250. 
Ware,  Rev.  Henry,  81. 
Ware,  Mrs.  Henry,  81. 
Ware,  Rev.  Henry,  Jr.,  81,  106. 
Ware,  Rev.  William,  81. 
Warren,  Gen.  Joseph,  78. 
Washington,  George,  97. 
Waters,  Reuel  W.,  144,  147. 
Watts,  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac,  140,  170. 
Webster,  Daniel,  73. 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


271 


Webster,  William  E.,  7,  8,  9. 

Wellman,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  W.,  145. 

Wesley,  Rev.  John,  11  n.,  107,  203, 
207. 

West,  Elizabeth  (Williams),  90. 

West,  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen,  90. 

Westcott,  Rev.  Dr.  B.  F.,  53  n. 

White,  Abraham,  248. 

White,  Mrs.  Daniel  A.,  256. 

\Vhite,  Joseph,  98. 

Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  77,  78,  122, 
189,  203. 

Whitney,  Rev.  Mr.,  145. 

Whittingham,  Rev.  William,  52  n. 

Whittlesey,  E.,  256. 

Wilkins,  S.  F.,  10,  144,  147. 

Willard,  Rev.  Samuel,  30. 

Williams,  Rev.  Eleazer,  89,  89  n. '. 

Williams,  Rev.  Eliphalet,  73,  105, 
162. 

Williams,  Rev.  Elisha,  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, 72,  105. 

Williams,  Rev.  Elisha,  of  Beverly,  73. 

Williams,  Col.  Ephraim,  73  n.,  90,  105, 
III,  215. 

Williams,  Dea.  Isaac,  72,  72  n.,  90, 
91,  105,  III,  210. 

Williams,  Isaac,  97. 

WiUiams,  Rev.  John,  89,  89  n. 

Williams,  Jonathan,  97. 

Williams,  Lucretia  (Jackson),  143. 

Williams,  Mary  (Hobart),  88,  89  n. 

Williams,  Rev.  Dr. 'Solomon,  of  Leb- 
anon, Conn.,  72,  73,  73  n.,  105, 
210. 


Williams,  Rev.  Solomon,  of  North- 
ampton, 73,  210. 

Williams,  Rev.  William,  of  Hatfield, 
71,  72,  74,  105. 

Williams,  Rev.  William,  of  Weston, 

73- 
WiUiams,   William,   nephew  of  Rev. 

William,  of  Hatfield,  74,  105. 
Williams,  WiUiam,  son  of   Rev.  Dr. 

Solomon,  of  Lebanon,  73  n.,  105. 
Winthrop,  Gov.  John,  246,  249. 
Wisner,  Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin  B.,  59. 
Wiswall,  Edmund  T.,  256. 
Wiswall,  Rev.  Ichabod,  71. 
Wiswall,  Capt.  Noah,  74,  96. 
Wiswall,  Elder  Thomas,  71,  96. 
Wood,  Bartholomew,  143. 
Wood,  Maria  F.,  9. 
Woodbridge,  Jonathan  E.,  254. 
Woods,  Rev.  Dr.  Leonard,  20. 
Woodward,  Eben,  248,  249. 
Woodward,  Ebenezer,  97. 
Woodward,  Ebenezer,  141. 
Woodward,   Elijah  F.,  5,  59,  60,  61, 

66,  67,  115,  119,  120,    132,  134, 

136,    138,    142,    143,    175,    247, 

249,  252. 
Woodward,  Mrs.  E.  F.,  248. 
Woodward,  Emily,  140. 
Woodward,  Hannah  G.,  249. 
Woodward,  Harriet,  159,  250. 
Woodward,  John,  96,  249. 
Woodward,  Rev.  Samuel,  71,  74,  78. 
Woodward,  Samuel,  98,  217. 
Wycliffe,  John,  50. 


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